Ketamine puts young people in ‘nappies for life’, warns deputy mayor

Deputy mayor for West Yorkshire has warned that young people must “understand the dangers of ketamine”.

Speaking on BBC Radio Leeds’ ‘Message the Mayor’ programme, Baroness Alison Lowe reported that £10 million pounds worth of ketamine was recently seized in Wakefield and acknowledged that the illegal drug is a “national problem”.

Lady Lowe, who is Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime in West Yorkshire, stated: “The impact on the body is catastrophic – it’s very cheap and it’s very popular.”

‘Permanent damage’

She explained to listeners: “Ketamine is a nasty drug – it wrecks the body, it can kill, and once that damage is done to the bladder, it is permanent and we will have young people literally in nappies for the rest of their life.”

She emphasised that it is a “scourge” in society, which needs to be tackled.

Ketamine is a Class B drug, but there are calls to upgrade it to Class A to give police greater resources to tackle the issue.

‘Normalising ketamine’

Earlier this year, a number of online retailers were criticised for normalising ketamine use by selling graphic T-shirts ‘celebrating’ the dangerous drug.

Companies such as Amazon, Temu and Shein stock a range of products sporting slogans, puns and cartoons about the illegal drug, which is linked to one death every week in the UK.

Recent data from the Home Office shows a 151 per cent increase in recorded offences for ketamine possession from 2020-21 to 2025-26.