Liverpool City Council has passed a motion highlighting the growing dangers of ketamine use among young people.
Brought forward by Councillor Lynnie Hinnigan and seconded by Councillor Harry Doyle, the motion reflects the Council’s commitment to protecting community health and wellbeing. At the meeting, Councillor Lynnie Hinnigan gave a powerful and heartfelt speech, calling for urgent action.
Liverpool has always been a city of resilience and strength, but we must now face a growing threat to our kids, a threat at pandemic levels.
Ketamine described as the heroin of the 80’s, I fear it’s much worse, and what I’m seeing terrifies me.
Ketamine, once considered a niche party drug, has now become dangerously mainstream. Liverpool, like many cities across the UK, has seen a worrying rise in ketamine use, particularly among teenagers and young adults.
Reports from local health services and youth workers suggest that this drug is more accessible than ever before, and one young person told me, it’s hard you just can’t escape it, it’s everywhere. It is cheap, easy to get hold of, and often mixed with other substances, making it even more unpredictable.
When I was young, we clubbed together for a bottle of Woodpecker cider, when my daughter was 15 it had moved on to Glen’s vodka, now kids as young as 12 are pooling their pocket money to buy a drug that kills.
The physical and mental health risks of ketamine are severe. Unlike some other drugs, ketamine doesn’t just cause addiction it causes irreversible damage. Frequent use leads to severe bladder problems, including a condition called ‘ketamine bladder syndrome,’ which can result in lifelong incontinence and, in extreme cases, the need for surgery in the form, quite often, a stoma bag for life.
Mental health services in our city are also reporting an increase in young people experiencing anxiety, depression, and dissociation due to ketamine use. This is a catch-22 drug, because after a short period, once hooked, it’s not the buzz that makes young people keep taking it, it’s the only thing that can effectively manage the intense pain.
But this isn’t just about individual health. The rise of ketamine use is affecting our entire community. Schools are struggling with students who are disengaged and suffering from the cognitive effects of the drug.
Families are being torn apart as parents struggle to cope with children whose personalities are changing due to prolonged use. And our local emergency services, already under immense pressure are dealing with more ketamine-related incidents, from overdoses to violent outbursts caused by intoxication.
Social media has also played a dangerous role in glamorising ketamine use. Platforms like TikTok and Snapchat are filled with videos of young people ‘k-holing’, a terrifying state of dissociation and paralysis that some now see as entertainment. This online culture is normalising drug use and making it seem like a harmless joke when it’s a direct route to addiction, long-term harm and, in some cases, death.
Last week I attended, with work colleagues, the first ever ketamine addiction support session facilitated by the Lifeboat Project in North Liverpool, and it broke my heart. The participants, some in recovery, some still using, shared their stories, the pain and fear for their futures. How a 20-year-old beautiful young woman admitted to a room of strangers how she had to wear adult pull-ups, didn’t want to die, and was going to leave the session and reuse as she couldn’t cope with the pain.
As a Council, we have a duty to act. We need stronger public health education programmes in schools to warn young people about the dangers of ketamine before they even consider trying it. We need to educate parents, so they know the signs to look out for. We need increased funding for youth services to help those already affected.
And we must work closely with Merseyside Police to crack down on the dealers who are pushing this drug onto our streets.
The government need urgently to reclassify this drug to Class A, introducing harsher penalties for those dealing to our kids.
Liverpool is a city that cares for its own. We cannot allow ketamine to steal the futures of our young people. The time for action is now. I urge this council to prioritise this issue, to invest in education and support services, and to send a clear message that ketamine has no place in our city.
Thank you.
