# Ketamine Q **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 9, 2026, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ketamine-q/1033713 "2026-10-09T20:25:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ketamine-q/1033713/1 "2026-10-09T20:25:39Z")
Related to the Cornell rape scandal. How is Ketamine typically administered? Must it be snorted, or can it be slipped into somebody’s drink? I honestly know that little about Ketamine. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ketamine-q/1033713/2 "2026-10-09T20:29:24Z")
At my vet’s it is injected IV. I suppose you could go IM, epidural, nasal, rectal, swallow it, etc., but the same dose would be less effective depending on the method of administration. (I.e., you would need a higher dose if taking it orally). Interestingly, an IM bolus seems to have the highest peak: [![](https://askp.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Ketamine-ROA-Figure-Time-x-Intensity-1-1024x398-1.jpg) ](https://askp.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Ketamine-ROA-Figure-Time-x-Intensity-1-1024x398-1.jpg) You _could_ “slip it into somebody’s drink”, but then it would have a super nasty, bitter, medicinal taste. > **[Routes of Administration (ROA) - ASKP](https://askp.org/patients/ketamine-treatment/routes-of-administration-roa/)** > > Ketamine must be absorbed into the bloodstream and circulate to the brain in order to yield a therapeutic effect. There are many ways ketamine can be ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ketamine-q/1033713/4 "2026-10-09T22:11:09Z")
I thought the episode of the CBC podcast On Drugs about ketamine was fascinating. [https://www.cbc.ca/listen/cbc-podcasts/157-on-drugs/episode/16128575-s3-e7-whats-the-deal-with-ketamine](https://www.cbc.ca/listen/cbc-podcasts/157-on-drugs/episode/16128575-s3-e7-whats-the-deal-with-ketamine) ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ketamine-q/1033713/5 "2026-10-09T23:39:59Z")
When it is used recreationally it is typically a powder that is snorted. There is also a liquid version this isn’t uncommon that is dropped on the tongue or could be put into a drink. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ketamine-q/1033713/7 "2026-10-09T23:56:04Z")
> [@antarctic](#): > > 500+mg IM has strange visual patterns many would expect from psychedelics like LSD. The fanbase has a huge overlap with stoners and psychedelic enthusiasts. In the viral comic illustrating the effects of different drugs via images from “Calvin and Hobbes,” ketamine is Spaceman Spiff blasting off into “_a world where time has no meaning!_” ---
**Author:** ![Nyvaak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Nyvaak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nyvaak)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2026, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ketamine-q/1033713/8 "2026-10-10T00:10:05Z")
I forget what the dose was, but I tried ketamine (on medical advice) for intractable headaches. It was a liquid with an atomizer, yielding a spray I had to snort once in each nostril, then keep sniffing to prevent its running out my nose (so charming!) Eventually it did drip down the back of my throat and was the bitterest, most foul tasting stuff ever ! BTW, it didn’t do much for the headache, just gave me troubled sleep and weird dreams. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2026, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ketamine-q/1033713/10 "2026-10-10T03:09:34Z")
Chiral ketamine is esketamine and comes in inhaler form. Brand may be Spravato. I don’t know if this would be prescribed for headaches but it’s used for depression. Dose is 56 or 84 mg, so sprays about half of each per nostril. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2026, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ketamine-q/1033713/11 "2026-10-10T03:46:35Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Interestingly, an IM bolus seems to have the highest peak: For me that is a blank chart (403 forbidden when I click on it). ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2026, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ketamine-q/1033713/12 "2026-10-10T03:58:04Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > I thought the episode of the CBC podcast On Drugs about ketamine was fascinating. Thanks, just downloaded it! ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2026, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ketamine-q/1033713/13 "2026-10-10T04:03:56Z")
It’s a very useful anesthetic. Remember the Thai soccer boys cave rescue: > **[Boys rescued from Thai cave were sedated with ketamine | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/04/health/thailand-boys-cave-ketamine-intl)** > > Medics who treated the 12 boys and their soccer coach rescued from a cave in Thailand last year credit the drug ketamine with playing a key role in the daring and dangerous mission to extract them. > **[Ketamine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketamine)** > > Ketamine is a cyclohexanone-derived dissociative general anesthetic and NMDA receptor antagonist with analgesic and hallucinogenic properties, used medically for anesthesia, depression, and pain management. Ketamine exists as its two enantiomers, S- (esketamine) and R- (arketamine), and has antidepressant action likely involving NMDA antagonism as well as other mechanisms. At anesthetic doses, ketamine induces a state of dissociative anesthesia, a trance-like state providing pain relief, sedati... The recreational uses are a side-effect. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2026, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ketamine-q/1033713/14 "2026-10-10T04:57:22Z")
As someone who was prescribed ketamine by doctors before, it has an extremely unpleasant taste. And it would make me “spin” mentally in circles as I was lying in bed, with a sensation like I was being spun in some washing machine, to the point that I had to clutch the blankets hard to make sure I was still alive in “this life” or conscious. One time I took it, lay in bed, then woke up to find myself sitting on the floor with my back to the wall, not sure when or how I’d gotten out of bed. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2026, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ketamine-q/1033713/15 "2026-10-10T05:07:19Z")
Ketamine is an excellent amnesic and general anesthetic adjunct. It’s especially useful in children for conscious sedation. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2026, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ketamine-q/1033713/16 "2026-10-10T14:18:02Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Ketamine is an excellent amnesic and general anesthetic adjunct. It’s certainly better than its predecessor, PCP!