"High risk of overdose": Ketamine derivatives classified as narcotics and now banned in France

It has become a real health issue.

To counter the increase in poisonings and overdoses, two new ketamine derivatives, O-PCE and DCK, have just been added to the list of narcotics established by the French National Agency for the Safety of Medicines (ANSM).

"These derivatives are psychoactive substances with psychostimulant effects at low doses and dissociative effects," specifies the ANSM. They are "generally sold on the Internet in the form of white powder or crystals, or even capsules, tablets or sprays."

Their production, sale and consumption are now strictly prohibited.

Six deaths between 2020 and 2023

A survey by the Marseille Centre for the Evaluation and Information on Pharmacodependence-Addictovigilance (CEIP-A) highlights that between 2017 and 2023, 39 cases of addiction were reported: "13 cases are associated with the consumption of O-PCE, 5 cases with DCK and 20 cases with 2-FDCK".

Six cases of death linked to ketamine derivatives were recorded between 2020 and 2023.

A powerful anesthetic, ketamine has become commonplace in recent years and its use is often diverted for recreational purposes, particularly for its hallucinogenic properties.