4 ms·

I did say in my first post that I understand it can be abused. I don't mean to claim that nobody has ever used ketamine for such purposes. I do think that the

I did say in my first post that I understand it can be abused. I don't mean to claim that nobody has ever used ketamine for such purposes. I do think that the original article and some of the other ones linked draw wholly unnecessary connections between ketamine and date rape. As you note, it is a very minor use case, and alcohol itself is far more often implicated in these situations, yet we don't read articles that casually mention "the date rape drug alcohol." I don't think there is any special conspiracy against ketamine, but it's just part of the way major media outlets distort these things to play up shock/outrage/drama.

eesmith 8y ago
You said "I've never once heard of ketamine used for that." and asked me "But did you actually know of it as a date rape drug before you googled "ketamine date rape?"" Yes. I heard about that putative connection from one of the times when the "date rape drug detection straw" or something similar made the rounds. At this point I can no longer find the specific link. I think it was from last year. Two possibilities from the media I frequent are: * HN 5 years ago at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6122049 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6122049 . (The link to the original article no longer exists.) * Phyrangula from 6 years ago https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2012/12/04/its-a-good-idea-its-depressing-that-its-necessary/ https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2012/12/04/its-a-goo... Looking at the other media sites I read: * Neatorama from 8 years ago https://www.neatorama.com/2010/06/30/10-weird-items-people-tried-to-smuggle/ https://www.neatorama.com/2010/06/30/10-weird-items-people-t... says "tests on the liquid found the animal tranquilizer ketamine, a hallucinogenic drug often used in date rape" * a comment on BoingBoing last year is the comment "From horse tranq, to date rape drug, to therapy. Is there anything Special K can’t do?", at https://bbs.boingboing.net/t/dissociative-psychedelic-ketamine-may-help-suicidal-children/104636 https://bbs.boingboing.net/t/dissociative-psychedelic-ketami... . A 12 year old BoingBoing article at https://boingboing.net/2006/09/20/willie-nelsons-myste.html https://boingboing.net/2006/09/20/willie-nelsons-myste.html references the commentary: > For instance, one report called the disassociative hallucinogen Ketamine a “date rape drug.” There is, of course, no such thing as a date rape drug. There are drugs that were developed to be used – and are used – for other purposes that are, on rare occasions, used for date rape. And then there’s alcohol, which has been the more easily available and frequently used substance of choice for date rapists since time immemorial. I completely agree that the association with ketamine as a "date rape drug" is hyped-up drug-war propaganda, and alcohol is a far more common date rape drug, and ketamine has has many therapeutic uses. (Look at how many people are allowed to carry explosives with them on a plane - nitroglycerin is a common heart medicine.) But I think I have demonstrated enough examples which show why I don't think you should be surprised when someone makes that connection. Instead, I think you should be pushing back against the propaganda.

eesmith 8y ago

You said "I've never once heard of ketamine used for that." and asked me "But did you actually know of it as a date rape drug before you googled "ketamine date rape?"" Yes. I heard about that putative connection from one of the times when the "date rape drug detection straw" or something similar made the rounds. At this point I can no longer find the specific link. I think it was from last year. Two possibilities from the media I frequent are: * HN 5 years ago at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6122049 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6122049 . (The link to the original article no longer exists.) * Phyrangula from 6 years ago https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2012/12/04/its-a-good-idea-its-depressing-that-its-necessary/ https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2012/12/04/its-a-goo... Looking at the other media sites I read: * Neatorama from 8 years ago https://www.neatorama.com/2010/06/30/10-weird-items-people-tried-to-smuggle/ https://www.neatorama.com/2010/06/30/10-weird-items-people-t... says "tests on the liquid found the animal tranquilizer ketamine, a hallucinogenic drug often used in date rape" * a comment on BoingBoing last year is the comment "From horse tranq, to date rape drug, to therapy. Is there anything Special K can’t do?", at https://bbs.boingboing.net/t/dissociative-psychedelic-ketamine-may-help-suicidal-children/104636 https://bbs.boingboing.net/t/dissociative-psychedelic-ketami... . A 12 year old BoingBoing article at https://boingboing.net/2006/09/20/willie-nelsons-myste.html https://boingboing.net/2006/09/20/willie-nelsons-myste.html references the commentary: > For instance, one report called the disassociative hallucinogen Ketamine a “date rape drug.” There is, of course, no such thing as a date rape drug. There are drugs that were developed to be used – and are used – for other purposes that are, on rare occasions, used for date rape. And then there’s alcohol, which has been the more easily available and frequently used substance of choice for date rapists since time immemorial. I completely agree that the association with ketamine as a "date rape drug" is hyped-up drug-war propaganda, and alcohol is a far more common date rape drug, and ketamine has has many therapeutic uses. (Look at how many people are allowed to carry explosives with them on a plane - nitroglycerin is a common heart medicine.) But I think I have demonstrated enough examples which show why I don't think you should be surprised when someone makes that connection. Instead, I think you should be pushing back against the propaganda.