Ketamine death of man, 26, whose addiction to the class B drug saw his bladder shrink to the size of a toddler’s could spark law change
Ketamine could be upgraded to a Class A drug after a 26-year-old man became so addicted that his bladder shrank to the size of a toddler’s.
Rhian Rogers, from Atherstone, Warwickshire, was found in a bathroom of his shared house four days after he died from a dose of the Class B party drug in April.
His mother Clare, a 47-year-old midwife, had spent thousands of pounds sending her son to rehab and flushed his drugs down the toilet in a bid to stop his substance abuse.
Ketamine, which can bought for the same price as a takeaway coffee, is said to be the dealers’ drug of choice because its Class B status means less jail time than being caught with Class A drugs like cocaine, ectasy or heroin.
The drug, often used at parties or festivals, has the false reputation of being safe, with many youngsters being unaware of its potentially fatal consequences.
Rhian Rogers (pictured with his mother Clare) died after taking Ketamine in April this year
The 26-year-old (pictured) from Atherstone, Warwickshire, saw his bladder shrink to the size of a toddler’s after taking the party drug
Rhian’s mother, Clare Rogers, a 47-year-old midwife,(pictured together when Rhian was a child) had spent thousands of pounds sending her son to rehab in a bid to kick his addiction
Data showed that one in four 16 to 24-year-olds have tried ketamine with one in 20 being regular users. Now families of Gen Ket – Generation Ketamine – are calling or law changes.
The Home Office may now consider upgrading the drug following the death of Rhian, with urology surgeons raising the alarm after seeing a spike in so-called ‘ketamine bladder’.
It can lead to drug users becoming incontinent so they have to wear pads to work, start wetting their beds, carpets and furniture. Some even keep empty water bottles next to their bed so they can fill it with bloodied urine in the night.
Rhian, who won two national awards for computer innovations at Jaguar Land Rover, had been on the NHS waiting list for treatment for his damaged urinary tract for so long that he began taking the drug as antiesthetic to relieve his pain.
An invitation for his appointment arrived as his funeral was being arranged – 19 months after he was referred.
His mother Clare is now fighting for more support to stop other youngsters like Rhian, who became addicted living alone in a flat in lockdown after using the drug at music festivals, dying from taking the drug.
‘This drug is a killer. It is taking bladders from young children,’ she told the Times.
Rhian (pictured) was found in a bathroom of his shared house four days after he died from a dose of the Class B party drug in April
Rhian and his girlfriend Chloe, 26, from Tamworth (pictured together) both started taking the drug at festivals
‘Why is ketamine not class A when it is doing so much harm to our kids?’
Ketamine causes the bladder to shrink, causing extreme pain, with users needing to urinate more often.
Rhian’s bladder issues were so bad that he had to have an en-suite room when he went to university in Nottingham and take four different types of pain killers, as well as two anti-inflammatory drugs.
His mother previously told The Sun: ‘Rian was sporty and bright, with so many friends. He had everything to live for, but ketamine took all that away.
‘He hardly drank and didn’t do any other drugs, but ketamine became his tool to help him deal with his grief, numbing his pain.’
Ketamine, which was upgraded from Class C to Class B drug in 2011, is used by vets as a tranquillizer for horses so often dealers use an emoji of the horse when trying to sell it online.
The drug – dubbed ‘ket’ or ‘K’ – is most often snorted in powder and can cause people to feel separated or detached from their body or physical environment.
Home Office minister Chris Philp has now written to Rhian’s MP Chris Tracey suggesting the Government is looking into reclassifying the drug.
Rhian had first tried ketamine at a festival with his girlfriend Chloe (pictured together at a festival)
‘If you have evidence that there are systemic harms caused by ketamine on a widespread scale, which may mean reconsideration of the classification from class B to class A is merited, then please do share this with the Home Office and I will make sure that it is considered very carefully,’ according to The Times.
Rhian’s former girlfriend Chloe, 26, from Tamworth told the Sun: ‘I was in and out of hospital with horrible side effects, but I still couldn’t stop.
‘For Rian and me it started as a sociable, festival thing. But it escalated so quickly into the opposite, never leaving our flat.’
Chloe finally gave up the drug after being reliant on it for almost a decade.
Professor Adam Winstock, founder of research group the Global Drug Survey, said that while the risk of dying from a ketamine overdose is really low, the UK has been one of the leading users of ket for the last five to ten years.’
MailOnline has contacted the Home Office.
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