By Salma El-Sakka
Ketamine-related deaths in England and Wales have nearly doubled in a year, reaching a record high of 115 fatalities in 2025, according to new data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The figure represents a 16-fold increase over the past decade, up from just seven deaths in 2015 and 27 in 2020.
Sharp Rise Over Decade
The ONS reported 60 ketamine deaths in 2024, meaning the 2025 total almost doubled in a single year. The powerful anaesthetic, also used as a horse tranquiliser, has become increasingly popular as a party drug among young people and teenagers due to its low cost compared to cocaine and MDMA.
Health Risks and Addiction
Regular ketamine use can cause severe and permanent health problems, including irreversible bladder and urinary tract damage, liver damage, severe weight loss, and potential organ failure. Lynne Weston, a clinical services manager at Turning Point, said ketamine addiction treatment admissions in England have increased more than eight-fold over the past decade. She warned that short-term use can lead to dissociative behaviour, hallucinations, nausea, agitation, and increased heart rate, while long-term use often creates a vicious cycle where users take more ketamine to manage chronic pain.
Experts Oppose Reclassification
Although ketamine has been a Class B drug in the UK since 2014, there have been calls to upgrade it to Class A. However, both Weston and Dr James Morgan, a lecturer in addiction and mental health at London Metropolitan University, argued that reclassification would not reduce use. They said criminalisation makes people reluctant to seek help, increasing vulnerability to drug-related harm. Morgan noted that ketamine dealers often already sell Class A substances such as cocaine and MDMA.
Cocaine Overtakes Heroin in Drug Deaths
The ONS data also showed 5,519 drug poisoning deaths registered in 2025, a slight decrease from 5,565 in 2024. For the first time since records began in 1993, cocaine overtook heroin or morphine as the most frequently mentioned specific substance, with 1,233 deaths involving cocaine registered in England and Wales in 2025.
