Ketamine is not a tranquilizer for horses or any other animal. Ketamine is a surgical anesthetic. It is still in standard use on children and the very old because of its wide safety margin when used by professionals in clinical settings. Any drug that renders its user unconscious carries with it dangers that should not be trivialized.

A K-hole is a condition of near or complete immobility and unconsciousness, frequently preceded by vomiting. For obvious reasons, it is a phrase sometimes used derisively by people in club settings to describe the condition of a soiled and immobile patron.

Ketamine shares some chemical properties with PCP (phencyclidine) but they are not the same. Ketamine is far less toxic and its effects are not as long-lasting. Though PCP was also developed for use as an anesthetic, it was discontinued because it provoked psychotic episodes in some...