What is Ketamine?
[[File:(RS)-Ketamine-Structural Formulae V2.svg|thumb|300px|Ketamine]] '''Ketamine''' is a [[dissociative]] [[anesthetic]]. It is a type of drug a doctor might give to put someone to sleep for an operation. Ketamine can also be used as a [[painkiller]] and a [[bronchodilator]] (which makes it easier for air to get into the [[lungs]]).<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Peck |first1=T. E. |last2=Hill |first2=S. A. |last3=Williams |first3=M. |year=2008 |page=[https://archive.org/details/pharmacologyfora00peck_065/page/n123 111] |title=Pharmacology for anaesthesia and intensive care |url=https://archive.org/details/pharmacologyfora00peck_065 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-521-70463-2|edition=3rd }}</ref> In some countries it is used as an [[analgesic]], for fast pain relief such as in [[Bone fracture|bone fractures]] and in children. It has been or is starting to be used for pain relief both as a replacement for or use with opiates such as [[morphine]] with varing success. It can lead to side effects when used medically. The profile of these side effects are generally the opposite of morphine, but the dose of ketamine is lower than a recreational dose and it is not usually enough to cause a high. Sometimes it can lead to a special type of [[hallucination]] which makes people feel detached,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bergman |first=S. A. |title=Ketamine: review of its pharmacology and its use in pediatric anesthesia |journal=Anesthesia Progress |volume=46 |issue=1 |pages=10–20 |year=1999 |pmid=10551055 |pmc=2148883}}</ref> which is why some people use it as a recreational drug. As it can have severe side effects, it is usually not available as an over-the-counter drug. Ketamine was developed in 1962 as a rapid-acting dissociative anesthetic that was used in surgery. It was approved for human use by the [[Food and Drug Administration]] in 1970. Unfortunately, abuse began along the [[West Coast of the United States|West Coast]] and spread across the country by the 1980s. The illicit market