Ketamine Harm Reduction

Ketamine is becoming more and more popular in the rave and festival scene.  As someone who has experienced the downsides of Ketamine first hand, I advise anyone who decides to use it to think twice.  There are some SERIOUS downsides to abuse of this drug and its insidiously addictive [often called psychedelic heroin] qualities make it easy to go from use to abuse and, hard to drop the habit even when your body is sustaining serious damage.  Some links...

Ketamine Bladder Damage
Ketamine Kidney Damage
Ketamine Addiction

There are much safer alternatives to getting high that offer deeper benefits to the body and mind than Ketamine.  K, as it is often referred to in the interest of brevity, can be a kind of fool's way to chemical enlightenment.  BUT, as I have found the insights from K do not often apply to real life in the same way as those of mushrooms, DMT, cactus/mescaline, or LSD do.  K's insights can even cross into the delusional and psychotic realms of hallucination, and you won't know how far you went to you come back, but, sadly some never do.

If even after all the evidence of K's deleterious effects you choose to use it please try to follow these guidelines to reduce its negative impact on your body and mind...

• DO NOT do K in large amounts all at once.  Take small amounts["bumps"] until you find your sweet spot then, STOP.  Large lines are overkill and a waste of K along with a health hazard.
• Be very careful of doing K in public places if you "K-Hole" and become unresponsive you could end up robbed, raped, in a hospital, or jail.
• Drink water HEAVILY throughout the night and urinate regularly.  K is very hard on your kidneys and bladder so a constant wash of fluids will mitigate damage.  Urinating frequently even if you don't have an urge is necessary, as K makes your urine acidic and letting it acid wash your bladder can BURN IT, causing semi-permanent or PERMANENT DAMAGE.  (Peeing 20+ times a day is not uncommon for chronic K-heads)
• If you are insufflating K, hock up the drip from the back of your throat and spit it out, you will not lose any of the desirable effects of the drug from spitting it out(most of the active ingredients are absorbed nasally) BUT, you will avoid your kidneys and bladder having to process all that powder.
• Make sure you do constant reality checks about your world-view and K usage.  K has been known to make many delusional and some, psychotic.  It is not rare for a K-head to believe they are the only real human being.  
• Check out the stories of the most famous K-heads, all of them smart and successful people, unable to wrangle the Ketamine demon.
• John C. Lilly
• D.M. Turner
• Marcia Moore
• When you begin to feel worried, guilty, or anxious about your Ketamine use this is a warning sign to STOP.
• If you begin to feel bodily discomfort in your nasal passages, urinary tract/bladder, or kidneys PLEASE STOP only 1 or 2 more uses of K could damage your body/organs FOR LIFE.
• Get help, move away from "the scene", get new hobbies. new friends ANYTHING to avoid doing internal damage to body and brain.

Watch out for this one folks, it's sure to get worse before it gets better.

Obsession versus Self-Realization

What keeps most people mired in worldly pursuits without ever paying heed to the spiritual side of life is obsession.  In order to better the self-consciousness one must train and better the organism holistically, body, heart, mind, and soul.  Most people's obsessions are a misdirected attempt to better their own consciousness by only heeding the desires of one part of their psyche.  Heeding one aspect of the self over all others always causes problems for the self.  For example, an alcoholic seeks happy emotions and escape from his mind while at the same time poisoning his mind and body.  A collector of objects amasses toys yet languishes in the areas of interpersonal relationships and personal growth. 
Because our society considers true self-infatuation narcissistic people divert their natural obsession to better themselves into activities society deems appropriate such as entertainment addiction(TV, internet, and videogames)  These single track obsessions do not serve to better the person as a whole spiritually.  There is nothing wrong with TV, alcohol, or collecting inherently but, pursued single mindedly they eventually lose their luster and begin to instill more unconscious compulsions in the self. 
If people could realize the futility of narrow-minded obsessions and would rather, seek to better their selves in every conceivable aspect then society would begin to spiritually grow.  Obviously those who amass wealth and power do not wish people to grow holistically but would always rather them pursue paths that lead to more purchasing and economic growth.