Children investigated for ketamine offences, data shows

A total of 86 people, including children, were investigated for possessing, intending to supply or supplying ketamine in Dorset between 2020 and 2024, new police statistics show.

It comes after the latest government figures showed that the drug's usage among 16 to 24-year-olds in England has tripled since 2016.

Dorset's assistant coroner wrote to the home secretary last month over concerns about "the increasing number of young people presenting with potentially fatal health problems" after using the class B drug.

Richard Middleton had presided over the inquest of Joshua Leatham-Prosser, who died in June 2024, having used ketamine since 2019.

The figures released by Dorset Police show 15 children were investigated between 2020 and 2024 and 70 adults, aged 18 and over.

The force published the figures on its website following a freedom of information request from a member of the public.

At the inquest into Mr Leatham-Prosser's death, Mr Middleton said the impact of the drug on the man's bladder was "akin to acid attacks on the skin" and that ketamine cystitis was an "emerging epidemic" among young people.

He said the 25-year-old from Weymouth was in a "vicious cycle" where the only way to relieve urinary symptoms was to take more ketamine.

That only meant his health problems problems deteriorated, he added.

Mr Leatham-Prosser had been due to have surgery in October 2024.

His causes of death two months earlier were urinary sepsis, chronic cystitis and pyelonephritis and chronic ketamine use, the assistant coroner concluded.

In a report sent to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, Mr Middleton said: "Patients seen by urologists are abusing the drug to the extent required to damage the urinary tract to the point of requiring major reconstructive surgery."

The Home Office is expected to respond to Mr Middleton's concerns over the coming months.

You can follow BBC Dorset on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.