内容摘要：To make savings, other planned changes include freezing extra payments for existing claimants of Universal Credit and almost halving them for new applicants.

To make savings, other planned changes include freezing extra payments for existing claimants of Universal Credit and almost halving them for new applicants.

He is under the care of consultant urologist Haytham Elsakka, who says he has witnessed a rise in young patients whose bladders have been damaged by ketamine use. "Some of them are in their 30s, but most of them are 16 to 24," says Dr Elsakka. Around half of young patients end up needing surgery, he adds. Other risks from recreational use include liver failure, damage to the urethra, incontinence and impotence."We have seen young people under the age of 25 who've completely lost control of their bladders, who have had to have surgery, including bladder removal," says Abigail Wilson, lead clinical pharmacist for national drug and alcohol charity WithYou.

In and around the town of Burnley, Ryan is far from alone. Lancashire County Council says it is helping a growing number of families affected by ketamine addiction in the Burnley area. According to WithYou, which runs a ketamine support service for young people aged 11 to 24, the number seeking help across Lancashire increased from 32 in 2018-19 to 123 by the end of 2024.And the area is not unusual. In England, the number of under-18s entering drug treatment who describe ketamine as one of their problem substances rose from 335 to 917 between 2020-21 and 2023-24, according to the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System.An anonymised 2023 survey of more than 13,000 secondary schoolchildren from 185 schools across England reported 11% of 15-year-olds had been offered ketamine at some point. The same study, conducted for NHS England, suggested the use of ketamine among schoolchildren had more than doubled in the last decade from 0.4% in 2013 to 0.9% in 2023.

The drug came into the spotlight following the death of Friends actor Matthew Perry aged 54, after which a coroner found ketamine had been the primary cause. Doctors and experts subsequently described how the market for the drug in the US has exploded as it has grown in popularity among Hollywood celebrities.And thousands of miles away, among ordinary young people in UK towns, ketamine – also known as special K, vitamin K, or kit kat - has also become fashionable. Although highly dangerous, it is often seen as a sociable way to get high, with users buying it in powder form and snorting it.

Now, just 11 years after ketamine was reclassified from Class C to Class B, the UK government is seeking expert advice on whether to make ketamine a Class A drug. This would mean anyone supplying it could be handed a life sentence.

But some experts are sceptical this would make much of a difference. While ketamine use appears to be on the rise among the young, there is a sharp divide in opinion around what can be done to halt that."We congratulate States members for listening to the wishes of Jersey citizens and rejecting the assisted dying ban," she said.

"They have recognised that doing nothing and maintaining the status quo is unconscionable."However, Deputy Barbara Ward, who worked as a nurse for 45 years, was against the proposals and said it should be called "an assisted suicide bill".

Deputy Sir Philip Bailhache shared concern for the impact the plans could have on disabled people.He said if assisted dying was approved, Jersey risked becoming a society that told disabled people their lives are not as valued as those of non-disabled people.