The drug in its original form looks like water and can be injected. But the most popular way to take it is to cook it down into a white powder. That describes it exactly. Ketamine is one of several club drugs nationwide that people, mostly young teens, are snorting, ingesting and shooting into themselves. Since August, four veterinary hospitals in the metropolitan area have reported break-ins in which vials of Ketamine were stolen.
Police suspect the thieves either sell the drug in clubs or use it themselves.
Veterinary offices across the United States have been reporting similar break-ins since 1997. Three years ago, the American Veterinary Medical Association encouraged its members to install burglar alarms and keep all drugs locked away after a rash of Ketamine thefts. In late January of this year, police in Illinois arrested five persons in a Ketamine sting at a veterinary clinic. The five were connected with 20 burglaries of clinics throughout Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana and Minnesota. Although use of the drug in Kansas City appears to lag behind use in other cities, that may be changing with the area's recent break-ins, said Jayne Tomko of the Drug Enforcement Administration.