Like other psychiatric drugs, ketamine can help people who are struggling with their mental health - but when misused, medications like ketamine can be dangerous, even deadly.
The death of actor Matthew Perry was a grim reminder of that. The 54-year-old actor was found dead in his Jacuzzi following a ketamine overdose. The Medical Board of California is still investigating the doctors charged in connection with Perry's death. At one point a psychiatrist prescribed ketamine to the actor but he eventually began buying it from illegal sources.
In an interview with ABC7's Marc Cota-Robles, Cary Quashen, the founder and CEO of Action Family Counseling, discussed ketamine's uses, its risks and how it can become addictive.
Marc Cota-Robles: You are knee-deep in addiction issues for years, right here in Southern California. And on this topic, ketamine, you know all about it - even, up until recently, you've dealt with patients.
Cary Quashen: Oh yeah, absolutely. I've been dealing with addiction right now and treating people for over 40 years. And what we're dealing with in today's world, with the drugs that are out there is just insane. But yes, I have two patients right now in treatment for ketamine abuse.
Dr. Salvador Plasencia, one of the doctors charged, reopened his medical clinic in Calabasas. So how common is it for a doctor to continue practicing after an arrest?
I don't want to criminalize ketamine because there are benefits to using it. Then it crosses that line, then it gets dangerous.
Correct
When used correctly, what does it do?
It treats pain and now they're looking into stuff as far as treating mental health and depression when it comes to ketamine. But like any other drug it's got to be really managed through medical ways of dealing with it. Because anything that you use -- ketamine included - when you start using it, at first you get this high and then what happens is you want to chase that high, but your body and your mind builds up this intolerance. So, you'd be chasing that first feeling and to get what you want you need more and more and more. And that's clearly what happened to Matthew Perry and anyone who has overdosed. No one overdoses on purpose. They chase that high.
And that high, you told me, is a sense of euphoria, out-of-body...
Absolutely. It's a sense of euphoria, a sense of out-of-body. LSD and acid and those drugs that were club drugs, they last hours. The difference between ketamine and that, it's a short-active drug. So, you stay high a lot less, which is good, but then you need more to stay high.
Federal authorities have charged five people in connection with the death of Matthew Perry, including Jasveen Sangha who has been dubbed the "ketamine queen."
Now for Matthew Perry, the timeline shows that his addiction was pretty quick. It was about a monthlong period where things escalated in a real hurry. He went from 20 vials to 50 vials - red flags, nothing normal about that.
No. And Matthew Perry's a celebrity. When I deal with celebrities it's even harder because everybody gives them what they want. If a celebrity says "I need this," it's a whole lot easier for them to get it than just a normal person on the streets.
He once made a statement saying, You know it's a problem if I ever say that I'm healed or recovered .
Correct.
Once an addict, always an addict?
You know what, I've been clean and sober for 43 years - on Christmas Eve, 44. But I still have that addictive personality. And I know I can't drink and I can't use anything. If I try to manipulate disease or alcoholism, I lose the battle.
I want to ask you about your current patients that you're helping. How are they doing?
They are doing terrific. But when they first came in I was dealing with a lot of psychosis, distorted reality, depression, anxiety and some anger bursts. So it takes a couple weeks for them to even settle down. It's a dangerous drug, like any other drug.
And courageous to come in, whether it's the user, the family that's pushing for it, you to be there to help. As you join us this morning, how do we save lives? Is it awareness? What is the next step, regulations needed?
There needs to be more regulation, of course, but it starts at home and it starts young. The message we're giving right now when it comes to substance abuse: it's always "Fentanyl kills." Before that it was "Heroin kills." It's "All drugs kill." I mean, ketamine, it has it's own problems as we know. But when you're looking at any drugs right now, there's no real drugs on the streets. So we have to educate children when they're young that all drugs are deadly, all drugs can kill you. All drugs can cause addiction.
When you heard about Perry, were you surprised?
I was not surprised at all.
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