Source: VICE
For half a century, prohibition has been causing chaos and misery worldwide. Any attempt to shut down the drugs trade invariably sets off a chain of events that just makes things worse, leaving a trail of death, illness, violence, slavery, addiction, crime and inequality across the globe. The War On Drugs is a war in which everyone loses – except, in a weird kind of way, the drugs themselves. It may lack the glamorous associations of cocaine and the hedonistic kudos of ecstasy, but ravers, doctors and therapists worldwide are united in their love for ketamine. The trippy anaesthetic has thrived despite global attempts to ban it and has overcome PR damage caused by teenage incontinence and knocked-out horses. Since it was first used by US field surgeons in the Vietnam War, the drug has quietly been winning battles in the War On Drugs across the planet, and today is adored by club kids zoning out at afterparties and pioneering psychotherapists alike.