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Patterns of ketamine use among young injection drug users
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Patterns of ketamine use among young injection drug users

Stephen E Lankenau and Bill Sanders
Journal of psychoactive drugs, v 39(1), pp 21-29
Mar 2007
PMID: 17523582
url
https://doi.org/10.1080/02791072.2007.10399861View
Published, Version of Record (VoR) Open

Abstract

Substance Abuse, Intravenous - psychology Demography Humans Substance Abuse, Intravenous - epidemiology Male Behavior, Addictive - ethnology Hallucinogens Socioeconomic Factors Behavior, Addictive - epidemiology Ketamine Risk-Taking Adult Female Interviews as Topic New York City - epidemiology Substance Abuse, Intravenous - ethnology Anesthetics, Dissociative
Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic that has emerged as an increasingly popular choice among young drug users. Recent research indicates the presence of hidden populations of young people who inject ketamine in New York and other U.S. cities. Applying an ethno-epidemiological approach, the authors recruited 40 young injection drug users (IDUs) (< 25 years old) in New York City to explore health risks associated with ketamine use. This analysis looks at the varying patterns and frequencies of ketamine injection by examining personal, social, and cultural aspects of these young people's lives. We learned that drug-using histories, experiential dimensions, sociocultural characteristics, and associations with other young people help account for the different patterns of injecting ketamine within the sample. In particular, these findings indicate that young people who were more frequent ketamine injectors had the following characteristics: initiated injection drug use with ketamine; enjoyed the effects of ketamine, were stably housed; lived in the vicinity of New York City; and associated with others who also injected ketamine.

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Web of Science research areas
Psychology, Clinical
Substance Abuse
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