Increasing use of ketamine as a recreational drug in Asia, Europe, and America is a great burden on society at large, leading to aspirational strain, unemployment, and crime. These societal effects have led to growing interest among researchers and clinicians in ketamine’s effects on various systems of the body. Ketamine: Use and Abuse reviews the acute and chronic effects of ketamine on both adult and developing animals and humans.

Providing an exhaustive review of the literature, the book is supplemented by the introduction of new data and research. Topics include:

• The pharmacological properties of ketamine
• The impact of ketamine on various organ systems, including the central nervous system and the gastrointestinal, respiratory, adrenal, and renal systems
• Developmental neurotoxicity in the developing brain
• Postmortem toxicology
• The epidemiology of misuse and patterns of acute and chronic toxicity
• The psychosocial aspects of ketamine addiction
• Clinical applications at acceptable doses, including possible contribution to the treatment of depression

The contributions in this book represent an initiative to investigate the different facets of ketamine beyond the known psychosocial factors related to addiction and its traditional use as an anesthetic agent. The broad-based coverage is designed to promote heightened attention on the subject and encourage further research into beneficial clinical uses.