Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of restrictions on the supply and use of ketamine on people living in the most rural areas of developing countries with no alternative anaesthetic for surgical procedures.

Ketamine is widely used as an anaesthetic in low and middle income countries. The Coalition Government believes that it is inappropriate to control ketamine internationally as it could result in reduced access to a substance listed as an essential medicine by the World Health Organisation. We will be adopting this position at the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs.

However, we are determined to clamp down on the illegal misuse of ketamine, which is why we have made ketamine a Class B drug and taken action to ensure its availability for health and veterinary care in the UK is properly regulated.

We continue to discuss our concerns over the impact of international control with a range of civil society groups and professional bodies, including bodies representing anaesthetists.