Drug Users Worldwide Fall into 'K-Hole'

“Special K” isn’t part of the most important meal of the day. It’s part of a dangerous trend that’s seeing recreational drug users turn to ketamine, a substance commonly used as a horse tranquilizer, GlobalPost reports. In humans, ketamine induces a hallucinogenic, immobile state. “Everything kind of went into 3D like The Matrix,” recalled one user. “I was a mess.”

Extended abuse can cause severe bladder and kidney problems. Although several countries, including the US, have made the drug illegal to possess without a license or prescription, ketamine remains legal elsewhere, and it's booming in Asia, Europe, and North America. “It’s gone from something no one did to something that’s always there if you want it,” explained a researcher.
(More ketamine stories.)