Clubbers may not be aware they are buying ketamine

Police have made the first seizures of the drug, which is being sold as ecstasy, in the past two weeks.

People who take the powerful anaesthetic can hallucinate and lose the ability to feel pain.

Ketamine has been a class-C controlled drug since January and use or possession of it can lead to prosecution.

Drugs liaison officer Det Con Stuart Payne said that the advent of ketamine in clubs was a worrying development.

The tablets look like ecstasy, so people are buying the drug without realising what they are getting Det Con Stuart Payne Ketamine fact file

He said: "Because it is an anaesthetic, the user cannot feel pain, so people can do serious harm without realising it.

"For instance they would not feel falls or minor injuries."

He said that dealers had told officers they were not aware it was ketamine.

"The tablets look like ecstasy, so people are buying the drug without realising what they are getting which adds to the danger.

"Anyone who is offered tablets should contact the police."

Ketamine, nicknamed "special K", has ballooned in popularity among clubbers.

In September last year, charity DrugScope surveyed drug prices in 15 towns and cities found ketamine on sale in eight.

Alcohol danger

It did not feature at all in the same survey a year earlier.

Ketamine is a general anaesthetic which has been used in hospitals and in veterinary medicine since the 1970s.

Among recreational users it can be taken in powder, tablet or liquid form.

Effects depend on the dose but users report euphoria, hallucinations and "out of body" experiences.