'I lost everything': Inside Britain's 'worrying' ketamine problem

A drugs recovery centre in Wales gave ITV News Reporter Rhys Williams exclusive access to see how increasing numbers of young people are being admitted with bladder failure

23-year-old Dan Parker is one of the lucky ones.

Though he nearly lost the use of his bladder he is now, thankfully, on the road to recovery.

"At the highest point I couldn't hold more than four to six millilitres of water in my bladder," he told ITV News.

"I had letters off consultants and doctors saying that if I didn't stop I'd be using a colostomy bag."

Dan is one of a growing number of young people suffering irreversible bladder failure after comparatively short periods of ketamine abuse.

The Class B drug, a horse tranquilliser, is particularly attractive to young people as it is around half the price of cocaine and has a reputation for being relatively safe to use.

Urology consultant Dr Claire Taylor said she's operating on more and more young people due to ketamine abuse.

Dr Taylor told ITV News: "Ketamine itself when it's broken down by the body it's eliminated through the urine and those chemicals are quite toxic to the linings of the bladder and causes inflammation, which changes to a form of scarring, which then replaces the bladder with an inner elastic scarring tissue, which, unfortunately, that is irreversible."

ITV News was given exclusive access to a drug treatment facility in Old Colwyn, on the north Wales coast, where we were told Dan was far from the youngest person needing treatment for ketamine abuse.

Some arrived with severe stomach pain, some had to wear nappies to bed, while others had totally lost control of their bladders.

Police have also picked up on an increase in the use of the drug. Forces in Wales, in particular, have warned of a "worrying rise" in the number of young people using ketamine.

Last year, Welsh forces seized twice the amount of the drug per head, compared to their counterparts in England.

For Dan his treatment is nearly over, but beyond north Wales there are many more just like him. Across the UK, ketamine is proving a growing, but hidden public health concern.

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