'Ketamin'e 14 yaşında başladım ve 22 yaşında bebek bezine ihtiyaç duydum' - rehabilitasyona giden gençlerin sayısı artıyor

Megan Harmes was 14 when she first tried ketamine.

A decade later, rehab is helping her rebuild her life after bladder issues caused by the drug have left her needing to wear incontinence pads.

The drugs charity Kaleidoscope says it has seen a huge rise in referrals to its detox and rehabilitation facility over the last five years, with two people referred in 2021 compared with 112 so far this year. The majority of clients are aged 18 to 24.

Research is now under way by the University of South Wales into the specific needs of this group, as the harm caused by "chronic, escalating use" of ketamine is far more rapid, over a shorter space of time, than that from alcohol or Class A drugs.

Services traditionally designed for older adults are having to adapt to support much younger people, it said, with very different needs, and habits often formed while they were in school.

For 24-year-old Megan, from Flint in north Wales, drug use became more common among her peers during lockdown.

As an aeronautical engineering apprentice, she was suddenly working from home, on full pay, with access to a drug whose price had plummeted.

Kaynak: BBC News Health RSS (Açık Basın / Tam Metin)