HSE warns on health risks of high potency ketamine and ecstasy as festival season gets under way

Irish Examiner

17-06-2025

HSE experts have issued fresh warnings of the risks posed by ketamine, as new research from the Netherlands deepens concerns associated with the drug.
Ketamine, an hallucinogenic drug that is increasingly popular among some young people, has featured in a number of drug hauls in Ireland this year and is typically seized alongside other 'party drugs', such as cocaine and MDMA (ecstasy).
Last month, 4kgs of ketamine was seized in a drug-mixing and distribution factory in an industrial premises in West Dublin, along with smaller consignments of cocaine and MDMA.
With the music festival season already begun, HSE drug experts are concerned at the potential use of ketamine — including new, and more potent, versions of the drug — and high-strength MDMA tablets.
Over the weekend, British drug checking charity The Loop warned of MDMA pills circulating at the Parklife Festival in Manchester were three times a common adult dose.
Dutch research just published has found an increase in first aid incidents in the country involving ketamine, often in combination with other substances such as alcohol and MDMA, which, it said, was 'leading to higher toxicity'.
It said this was manifesting in symptoms like 'agitation, hallucinations, nausea, tachycardia [high heart beat] and hypertension [high blood pressure]'.
The research expressed significant concern at the so-called 'ketamine bladder' or 'K bladder', saying there was 'significantly higher incidence' — up to six-times more — of uropathy, or blockage of urinary tract, among frequent ketamine users.
'Ketamine-induced uropathy is a growing concern, particularly among young adults, and requires early intervention to prevent disease progression,' the research said, adding 'immediate cessation of ketamine use is critical'.
Patient cases in the research include a 24-year-old man presenting in hospital with severe lower abdominal pain and acute urine retention.
It said a bladder scan showed 655ml of fluid retention and catheterisation was required.
A follow-up check, one year later, found the man was suffering bladder cramps — also known as 'K cramps'.
The severe effect known as a 'K hole' is caused by higher doses of the drug, characterised by profound dissociation or detachment and immobility, resembling near-death experiences.
Commenting on the Dutch research, a statement from the HSE said: 'While the use of ketamine may not be as high as the Netherlands, it is clearly an issue in this country also.
There is an ongoing concern in relation to ketamine use among young people.
The HSE said it published in the Irish Journal of Medical Science last year, which highlighted the increasing use of, and clinical concerns associated with, the drug.
It said the use of ketamine was again confirmed in the European SCORE Wastewater report, published earlier this year, which included Dublin for the first time.
'This is something that we have been seeing presenting to our HSE 'Safer Nightlife Programme' and 'back of house' drug testing service,' the statement said.
It added newer analogues of ketamine, or a designer drug versions, were causing even more concern: 'Newer analogues of ketamine are appearing on the market that are much more potent, and therefore more likely to cause harm.'
More information can be found on drugs.ie
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