Debate contribution: Ketamine: Reclassification

Debate contribution by Mr Danny Donnelly on 11 March 2025.

MLA

Mr Danny Donnelly

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

11 March 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Ketamine: Reclassification

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4855751

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I thank the DUP for tabling the motion. Tragically, 18-year-old Jeni Larmour died on 3 October 2020 after consuming alcohol and ketamine on her first night at university. She was a former deputy head girl at the Royal School Armagh and clearly had her whole life in front of her. I cannot imagine the pain of such a loss. Since then, her mum, Sandra, has been campaigning for more awareness of ketamine. I welcome her campaign. It is important to raise awareness of ketamine and the dangers that are associated with its use. Ketamine is commonly used in healthcare and veterinary medicine, but it is also misused. Following a review by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs in 2013, ketamine was moved from class C to class B under the Misuse of Drugs Act due to its potential harm when it is misused. We have heard about record levels of its use in recent years. Ketamine was initially a class C drug. It was then moved to class B, and there are now calls for its reclassification to class A, along with cocaine, heroin and ecstasy. It is currently seen as being less dangerous in class B, even though it carries potentially serious health problems, mainly involving irreversible damage to the bladder and kidneys. That can cause chronic pain and issues with kidney function and urination. There is also the risk of addiction and even death. Concernedly, it is also used in spiking incidents. The UK Government have invited the ACMD to provide an updated harms assessment of ketamine and to advise on reducing harms in response to emerging evidence and, in particular, on whether the drug should be moved to class A. One incident of experimentation with ketamine can be fatal, so there is a need to educate young people about the risks. People have used mind-altering substances almost since the beginning of time. Some were or have become socially acceptable, while others have been made illegal. Alcohol and tobacco have a long tradition of social acceptability in the majority of countries across the world. There is a clear dichotomy in that some substances that cause the most harm in our society, such as alcohol and tobacco, are legal and are even taxed by the Government to raise revenue, while other substances that are less harmful are illegal, and their possession and use can lead to criminal sanctions. During the Prohibition era in the USA from 1920 to 1933, the production, importation and sale of alcoholic drinks was marked by the emergence of black market networks and violent criminal organisations that made huge profits from distributing illegal alcohol. The policy was far from universally popular, and it was eventually repealed in 1933. It is widely seen as a failure, and there are obvious comparisons with today's failing war on drugs policies. In the UK, drugs are legislated for under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. That is a reserved matter into which the Assembly has no input. Patterns of drug use have changed significantly over the past 50 years. The 1971 Act puts more emphasis on the punishment of people who use drugs, rather than on their rehabilitation. Drugs are widely available in our cities, towns and even villages across Northern Ireland, and online, as Órlaithí said. There are even apps via which drugs can be delivered to your house. Reclassification would have a legal effect, but the differences are fairly minor. The class A penalties are seven years in prison for possession and life imprisonment for supply and production. The class B penalties are five years in prison for possession and 14 years for supply and production. A recent updated harms assessment by the ACMD into synthetic cathinones, such as mephedrone, which is another class B drug, highlighted the fact that there are potential disadvantages of making specific substances class A, and it did not recommend the reclassification of those substances. In particular, it stated:

"Reclassification may increase stigma for people using these drugs, discouraging them from seeking social or medical support. Their further criminalisation may present additional barriers to accessing services such as housing."

That is the opposite of harm reduction. It also stated:

"If reclassification resulted in increased supply costs, the risk of acquisitive crime to fund drug purchases could increase",

and that increased costs:

"could encourage some ... users and their suppliers to switch to potentially more hazardous Class A compounds, such as cocaine."

Furthermore, it stated:

"It is also important to avoid the unintended reclassification of compounds with potential legitimate use".

There is a growing body of evidence that suggests that the therapeutic use of ketamine may be a safe and effective treatment for various mental health disorders, although at very specific doses. We need practical methods to support people who are in vulnerable positions. We should be moving towards a harm-reduction model to support people who use drugs to do so safely and promote rehabilitation and recovery. Since ketamine is often used as a spiking drug, one such method could be to ensure the availability of drug-testing services, as Órlaithí mentioned, in places such as nightclubs, so that people can keep themselves safe. We welcome the decision to commission advice, and we encourage affected families and relevant stakeholders to help inform the review. The review will help to inform the public about the risks of ketamine at a time when its use is increasing, but a different approach is needed. We need more practical solutions to reduce harm from, and address the underlying factors of, drug use. There is a need to educate young people on the potential harms of ketamine misuse, particularly the risk of addiction, irreversible bladder and kidney harm and even death, but it is for the UK Government to deal with drugs policy, and it is clear that the 1971 Act is outdated and no long fit for purpose.

982 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:15 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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