ROYAL Navy bosses have issued a plea to sailors to stop taking the Class B drug ketamine – due to its popularity on submarines and ships.
Use of the drug – which has been linked to seven deaths among civilian nightclub revellers in the past month – is feared to be rife among junior naval personnel.
Royal Navy bosses have pleaded with sailors to stop taking ketamineAFP - Getty
The hypnotic – which is also used as horse tranquilliser – is banned under military law.
But chiefs have now sent an official note to sailors warning them taking ketamine “will not be tolerated” and is “very powerful and can cause serious harm”.
A source said: “It makes you really scared as to the prevalence of drug taking among junior ratings if senior officers feel they need to remind them that taking ketamine is not OK.
“But following a number of embarrassing incidents when submariners on nuclear submarines, including vessels which can carry nuclear weapons, failed compulsory drug tests, the new policy is to blitz personnel with reminders about what they surely should already know.”
KETAMINE: THE RISKS
KETAMINE can increase your heart rate and blood pressure.
The party drug can leave you feeling confused and agitated, delirious and sick.
And it can harm your short and long-term memory.
Other risks include:
paralysis of the muscles
inability to feel pain putting you at greater risk of injury
serious bladder problems – an urgent and frequent need to pee that’s very painful
abdominal pain or cramps
liver damage due to regular, heavy use
it can leave you incapable of moving, deteached from your surroundings
The findings in the study are still preliminary and more research is needed before it becomes a recommended treatment.
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A copy of the warning obtained by the Mail of Sunday and written by Commander Sean Brady reads: “Drug misuse may be tolerated in some walks of life but the lives of those in the Naval Service depend on the reliability of each and every member of a team.
“Drug misuse is not only illegal, it is also incompatible with the duty of the Naval Service to preserve the safety of all personnel. You have been warned!”
The Ministry of Defence said the ketamine warning had been issued as part of daily orders at a Naval establishment.
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