Posted by Cam W. on September 24, 2000, at 10:47:45
In reply to Re: Glutamate and dopamine confusion!, posted by AndrewB on September 24, 2000, at 9:33:35
Andrew - Ketamine can be not fun. Known as "Special K" at raves it can cause hallucinations, as well as a sense of wellbeing. Also the anterograde amnesia can be embarrassing or even harmful. It is also used in animal and human models to 'induce' psychosis (they don't let researchers use PCP on humans anymore). Ketamine binds to the PCP site on the NMDA receptor, blocking the calcium flow (I believe, but am not sure) or, in other words, disinhibiting dopamine transmission.
I was reading a textbook on hallucinations and there was an incidence of ketamine being used in a string of sexual assaults. Seems these guys were pretending ketamine to be cocaine and getting women blitzed and then taking them "home". The women realize what is happening at the time, but have no memory afterward. Also, enough ketmine causes catatonia, so these women couldn't move while they were assaulted. The way that the sickos were caught is that one woman who was assaulted was drinking a lot of cranberry juice (the real, bitter stuff, not the cocktail kind) and this probably increased the excretion of the ketamine (probably due to acidification of the urine). She was able to identify her attackers, where the other women had no memory of the attacks (other than the obvious assault to their bodies).
If you use ketamine, be careful (IMHO) - Cam
poster:Cam W.
thread:44865
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000905/msgs/45186.html