Fatal ketamine injection

In recent weeks, there has been yet more publicity around the death of Matthew Perry, the popular Friends actor who died as a result of his ketamine addiction. His assistant is said to have administered the fatal injection, though others have been arrested in connection with the supply of drugs that led to his death.

Working within the field of addiction for the last 30 years, we have never met a drug addict who chose to inject themselves for the first time. There has always been that person who firstly injected them, maybe to show them how to do it, possibly they were initially frightened of a needle but they have allowed a third party to administer a drug into their system that would in time totally destroy their life. It is also a fact that it is very rare to see an old using heroin addict. The drug destroys the body and they usually never reach even middle age. It is possible to suffer a fatal overdose at any age and their life’s destruction started the moment a possible stranger stuck a needle into their vein.

Drugs that can be injected

A wide variety of drugs are injected although the most common are opioids such as heroin. Crack cocaine and ketamine can also be injected and some people even combine cocaine with heroin and inject it. This is known as “Snowballing”.  Although there are different methods of taking drugs, using a needle and syringe is favoured by the more hardened addict as the full effects of the drug are experienced very quickly.  Also, by injecting and not taking an illegal drug orally, it bypasses metabolism in the liver. This results in a higher efficiency of many drugs as, when taken orally, two thirds of the contents are processed and removed in the liver. So a person will get a stronger effect from the same amount of drug when it is injected.    The common term “shooting up,” refers to the preparation of the drug when the powdered drug is mixed with water to create an aqueous solution and heated (although cocaine does not need any heat). The solution is then injected. 

The fact that someone that you might not even know that well, or even a stranger, has taken upon themselves to inject a potentially life threatening substance into your blood stream is totally abhorrent.  There are no real safe quantities or amounts of a drug that can be taken. No one can guarantee what the drug has been mixed with and how the body will react to whatever is in it. There is a risk of Fentanyl being used to “cut” the drug. How someone reacts the first time to any drug or agent being in the system is a serious potential danger for a first time user. 

Is it legal to inject someone else with a drug?

Interestingly, there is little information surrounding the legality of someone injecting another person with their permission – although, of course, if it leads to serious consequences as in the case of Matthew Perry, there could be a murder charge involved. In the Misuse of drugs act 1971 under “section 9A,” there was huge importance placed on the possession of drug paraphernalia. It was an offence to supply drug paraphernalia. For example unless you were a GP, a pharmacist or working legally within drug treatment services, it was unlawful to sell or provide swabs, citric acid, filters, ascorbic acid or water ampoules of up to 2ml and utensils for the preparation of a controlled drug.  Section 9A was included to help prosecute drug dealers who were selling complete “kits.” However, although there were cases brought to court, none were ever successfully prosecuted.  Because of the zero prosecution success the law around section 9A was changed in 2003 to actually make it legal for drug users to have access to these items without fear of prosecution.  This is one example where the law is being changed in favour of the drug user and supplier as the police do not have the resources to enable them to reach a successful conviction. 

What about the ultimate level of injecting someone else?  It can be difficult to establish who might have injected someone who then subsequently died of an overdose or of a reaction to the drug that was administered.  Unless there were to be good witnesses or CCTV evidence, it would be impossible to establish the identity of that individual or even to be able to establish that the person did not just inject themselves and there was no third party involved.  It is the case, though, that should they be identified then there would be a manslaughter/ murder charge brought against them. This would be on the grounds of being reckless or negligent – specifically in breaching a duty of care.  There is also a risk of prosecution for administering a drug to someone if it can be proved that there was an intention to cause injury or harm. In addition, anyone advising someone to inject other people also risks being prosecuted for encouraging or assisting an offence.

It is, however, the mentality of the person who thinks it is acceptable to introduce someone to the world of heroin or crack cocaine or ketamine or methamphetamines by putting a needle into their arm that needs to be questioned.  What gives that person the right to initially abuse another individual in that manner?  There are also questions around the thought pattern of the individual who is giving their agreement and permission to be injected in the first place. 

In Matthew Perry’s case, it seems that  he had been injected with Ketamine by someone not medically trained to administer the drug. The allegation is that his addiction had “been exploited for their own financial gain despite knowing that their actions were negatively impacting his wellbeing”. This, in part, has to be true for anyone injecting another person as they are injecting them to introduce them to the effects of a drug which they know will highly likely become a daily drug addiction and which is going to have a negative impact on their life.  There is no way that this act, even given with verbal permission, comes from a place of care or with a view to enrich the individual’s life. It is just another step along the journey of taking a life away.