Pubdate: Mon, 19 Sep 2005 Source: Manila Standard (Philippines) Copyright: 2005 Manila Standard Contact: http://www.manilastandardonline.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3450 Author: Christine Herrera Cited: Philippine Dangerous Drugs Board http://www.ddb-ph.com Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?158 (Club Drugs) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/areas/Philippines DDB TAGS KETAMINE AS 'DANGEROUS' DRUG Ketamine has been classified as "dangerous" drug after it was found abused by teens in rave parties in the Philippines, Cebu Rep. Eduardo Gullas said yesterday. Ketamine, a tranquilizer most commonly used on animals as painkiller, used to be classified by the Dangerous Drugs Board as "controlled." DDB Board Regulation no.3 Series of 2005 classifies Ketamine as "dangerous" effective Oct. 1. "We welcome the new DDB order as a timely and responsive policy intervention in light of numerous reports concerning the widespread ill-usage of Ketamine in local rave parties and dance clubs, just like the designer drug Ecstacy," said Gullas. Gullas said the US Drug Enforcement Administration considers Ketamine a date-rape drug. The effects of the powerful anesthetic include delirium, amnesia and long-term memory and cognitive difficulties. Ketamine, also known as jet, super acid, Special K, green K, and cat Valium, comes in the form of clear liquid or a white or off-white powder, Gullas said. He said the liquid form, sold in vials, can be injected, consumed in drinks, or added to smokable materials. High doses of Ketamine produce an effect likened to a "near comatose" or "out-of-body" experience. "The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency recently discovered that some clandestine shabu laboratories in the country have been blending Ketamine with shabu to produce an even more noxious designer narcotic with the combined effect of a hallucinogenic sedative and vicious stimulant," Gullas said. Last May, police seized 6.8 kilos of Ketamine worth P34 million from a shabu laboratory in Quezon City. The facility had been producing shabu laced with Ketamine for local distribution and for export to Hong Kong, where Ketamine is also widely abused. As a dangerous drug, Gullas said the importation, distribution, sale and prescription of Ketamine would now be rigorously restricted and supervised by DDB. He said only specially licensed practitioners may prescribe the drug in monitored and controlled doses. Marketed as a tranquilizer for animals, the only known black market source of Ketamine is via the illicit diversion of supplies from manufacturers, distributors, pharmacies and even veterinary clinics, Gullas said. Each dosage of Ketamine sells for P1,000 to as high as P5,000 in the black market, Gullas said. The DDB said: "Any material, compound, mixture or preparation, which contains any quantity of Ketamine, including its salts, isomers, and salts of isomers within the specific chemical designation, by whatever official, common or unusual brand name or designation, is hereby classified as a dangerous drug." The DDB said any violation of this regulation will be reason for filing the appropriate criminal case against the violator, without prejudice to such administrative sanctions as may be provided under the law and board rules. The new DDB order was signed on July 19 and adopted by several government officials headed by Interior Secretary Angelo Reyes, also DDB officer in charge. - ---