As ketamine sweeps across universities, more young people are trying it with devastating consequences. Woman investigates
The new term is in full swing and while students are enjoying living away from home at university, and are making the most of the party scene, parents at home are perhaps naive to the dangerous temptations lurking in the shadows in universities across the land.
Available for as little as £3 a hit, it might seem tempting to young people just looking to have a good time, especially with alcohol prices increasing, but the ketamine epidemic is a killing machine.
Now, it’s a bigger problem than ever and in the year ending March 2022, the quantity of ketamine confiscated by border forces rose by 884% to 1.8 tons – the highest level on record. The proportion of 16- to 24-year-olds who have used ketamine is at a high of 5.8%, nearly treble the rate of 15 years ago.
Woman delves deeper, as one mother shares her devastating story, which will have parents everywhere reaching for their mobile phones to call their kids…
‘I JUST WISH SHE’D SAID NO’
Sandra Larmour, 50, is a HR officer and lives in Newtownhamilton, County Armagh with her 19-year-old son, Daniel
The last time I saw my daughter Jeni, I waved her off as she went to meet her new friends, ready to embark on a pivotal chapter of their lives at university. It was October 2020 and I’d gone to Newcastle with Jeni, then 18, to help her settle into halls as she prepared to begin a course in architecture and urban planning. After a day shopping for household supplies, I dropped her off and headed back to a nearby hotel where I was staying. I was proud of her and hopeful about her future. Before she’d headed to uni, I hadn’t had the ‘drugs talk’ with her. Whenever I had mentioned it, she’d reassured me that it wasn’t something she’d do, so I didn’t worry.
The following morning, Jeni wasn’t answering my calls or texts. ‘Are you alive?’
I messaged her, as I often did jokingly when I wanted to know she was OK. Even after a late night, Jeni was an early bird, so by 9.30am, I was pacing my hotel room. When the police called me at 11.30am and said they wanted to pay me a visit, I was worried, but sure that whatever trouble Jeni had got herself into could be sorted. Only when I opened the door and saw the look on the two officers’ faces, I knew. ‘Don’t even say it,’ I told them, tears forming as my heart pounded.
