
Every day, 25-year-old Ethan Humphreys lives with the physical pain that reminds him of what ketamine has cost him – his health.
“The first side effect was the cramps, where I’d get just bad stomach pains, where I couldn’t lie down properly [or] sit down properly,” said Ethan, who started taking ketamine when he was 15.
But that was just the start, with endless hospital trips to follow as Ethan’s kidneys struggled to function and the mental challenges mounted as he dealt with the drug-induced fallout.
Now he is on a mission to help others, as experts warn of an emerging epidemic of addiction to the powerful Class B drug.
“I’m trying to show that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel,” said Ethan, ahead of a meeting of the ketamine recovery group he has organised in his hometown of Holyhead, Anglesey.
“I want this place to be a group where people can come in and just speak how they want. It doesn’t matter if they’ve been struggling through the week and they want to hide it away.
“The ego gets left at the door in this place.”
Ethan is celebrating six months since he kicked his ketamine habit, after a second – and he hopes successful – stint in rehabilitation.
“My mum was at breaking point,” he said.
“The rest of my family had stopped speaking to me. It was just make or break for me.”

Addiction specialists say Ethan’s story is familiar, with a huge increase in referrals for ketamine related help.
According to a paper published in the British Medical Journal in June, more than 3,600 people across the UK were being treated for ketamine addiction in 2023 and 2024.
That is up eight-fold from a decade earlier, with 426 treatment cases in 2013-14.
What is ketamine?
- Sometimes referred to as ket, Special K or just K, ketamine is a powerful horse tranquilliser and anaesthetic. It is a licensed drug and can be prescribed medically
- When misused, it can cause serious and sometimes permanent damage to your bladder and liver, as well as memory loss
- It is currently a Class B drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971
- The penalty for possession is up to five years in prison, an unlimited fine, or both
Ethan was first rushed to hospital back in 2022, when the real effects of his ketamine addiction began to reveal themselves.
“You can’t pass urine and then that leads into blood in your urine, and in the later stages, my kidneys and my liver function stopped working properly,” he said.
“I had to isolate myself because I was going to the toilet every two minutes, walking in pain.
“I lost a lot of weight.
“So it just strips you really, in some sense, like strips you down to your bone.
“I had to plan my day around if I could get to the toilet or not. Even walking to the shop was a bit of a task in itself. It was just really hard.”
‘I couldn’t recognise the person I was’
The physical challenges were only half of the battle for Ethan.
“The depression side of it, it just took over in the end. I didn’t want to live. I couldn’t care if I died the next day,” he said.
“I used to think I was a waste of space. I couldn’t recognise the person I was in the end.
“I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t hold a meal down. It was really hard in the end.”
After spending six months on a waiting list, he was accepted for residential rehab at a centre in Greater Manchester.
“When I was up in Manchester, a ketamine group, an education support group got started up there, where I attended the group and it really helped,” he explained.
“I sort of took the idea myself. So that’s what I mean to do and sort of try and target the people who are struggling around Wales.”

Cheryl Williams, who works in a north Wales rehabilitation centre, has been raising awareness of ketamine issues alongside the sister of drag artist James Lee Williams, better known as The Vivienne.
The performer, who grew up in Colwyn Bay, was the first winner of Ru Paul’s Drag Race in 2019, and was discovered dead in January following a cardiac arrest brought on by the drug.
“I would say we are on the verge of an emerging ketamine epidemic,” said Ms Williams, who is a strategic lead for the recovery charity Adferiad at its Parkland Place Rehabilitation Unit.
She said many of the referrals were coming from young people – often under-18.
“I think it has become so cheap and available for children to use. It’s more of an issue,” she added.
Ms Williams said Ethan’s decision to start a recovery group on Anglesey had to be commended.
“The more that people talk about that they’ve had a ketamine problem, that they’ve overcome it and how they’ve overcome it – I’m a very big advocate for peer support and lived experience,” said Ms Williams.
“Who else better to tell their story than someone who has been through it.”
Ethan still struggles with kidney pain on a daily basis, but does feel he is on the mend.
He has gained weight since rehab and visits the gym every day.
He said his bladder problems had also improved, as well as his mental health, and he had been able to rebuild relationships with family.
“My mum has always stood by me but you can see how much I was causing pain for her. So now we’re best friends again,” he said.
He said his focus now was on helping others.
“It’s massive for me, honestly, and that’s my passion now.”
If you have been affected by this story the Action Line has a list of organisations which are ready to provide support and advice.