Ketamine harm is going up.

Updated September 2026

Ketamine is showing up in more overdose deaths, more poison center calls and more surveys. Here are the numbers.

It's going up everywhere we look

Surveys, poison centers and death records all show more ketamine harm.

~80%

rise in US nonmedical ketamine use

2021–2023, ages 12+ (NSDUH)

Palamar et al., Lancet Reg Health Am 2025

2×

ketamine exposures reported to US poison centers

2019 → 2023 (205 → 414)

Drug and Alcohol Dependence (Palamar et al.) · 2025

+41%

increase in overdose deaths where ketamine was found

2020 → 2024 (153 → 216), 26 jurisdictions

CDC SUDORS

Ketamine was found in more US overdose deaths each year from 2021 to 2024.

Poison centers logged more than four times as many suspected suicidal ketamine exposures in 2023 as in 2019.

In 4 of 5 overdose deaths where ketamine was found, the person had also taken fentanyl, meth or cocaine.

Three data sources show more ketamine harm.

Ketamine in overdose deaths

More overdose deaths have ketamine in them

Same 25 states and DC each year, 2020 to 2024

Annual overdose deaths with ketamine found in a fixed panel of 26 jurisdictions, 2020 to 2024Accidental and undetermined-intent overdose deaths. The scale starts at zero. The 2024 value is highlighted.06012018024015320201462021160202219120232162024
Annual overdose deaths with ketamine found in a fixed panel of 26 jurisdictions, 2020 to 2024. Accidental and undetermined-intent overdose deaths. The scale starts at zero. The 2024 value is highlighted.
PeriodValue
2020153
2021146
2022160
2023191
2024216
Source: CDC SUDORS · 2020–2024 · 26 jurisdictions; accidental and undetermined-intent overdose deaths
↓ Download overdose detections CSV (CSV data file)

Ketamine rarely kills alone

Across 45 jurisdictions from July 2019 to June 2023, ketamine was found in 912 overdose deaths. It helped cause 440 of them. It was the only drug to blame in 24. In 4 of 5, the person had also taken fentanyl, meth or cocaine. It's the same in Australia. Other drugs were found in 95% of deaths where ketamine played a role. Source: Darke et al., 2021.

Overdose deaths with ketamine found and deaths where ketamine helped cause death28-jurisdiction panel, six-month periods from 2019 H2 through 2023 H1. This is separate from the annual 26-jurisdiction panel. The scale starts at zero.03060901202019H22020H12020H22021H12021H22022H12022H22023H1
Overdose deaths with ketamine found and deaths where ketamine helped cause death. 28-jurisdiction panel, six-month periods from 2019 H2 through 2023 H1. This is separate from the annual 26-jurisdiction panel. The scale starts at zero.
Six-month periodKetamine foundKetamine helped cause death
2019 H24724
2020 H17937
2020 H29743
2021 H18139
2021 H28748
2022 H19145
2022 H210359
2023 H110753
Source: MMWR 73(44), 7 Nov 2024 · Jul 2019–Jun 2023 · fixed 28-jurisdiction panel, six-month periods
↓ Download found vs involved CSV (CSV data file)
912deaths where ketamine was found
440deaths where ketamine helped cause death
24deaths where ketamine was the only drug to blame
82.4%of deaths where ketamine was found also involved fentanyl, meth or cocaine

Source: MMWR 73(44), 7 Nov 2024 · Jul 2019–Jun 2023 · 45 jurisdictions; categories can overlap

Mixing is the big danger.

Understand mixing risks ↗Find help ↗

Overdoses aren't the whole story

The CDC's main ketamine numbers only count overdose deaths. People on ketamine also die from falls, drownings and crashes. In 2023, the Los Angeles County medical examiner ruled that actor Matthew Perry died from the acute effects of ketamine. Drowning was one of the causes. Source: LA County Medical Examiner, 2023.

15

deaths with ketamine found in Miami-Dade, 2017

68

deaths with ketamine found in Miami-Dade, 2023

This counts every kind of death, not just overdoses. About 1 in 4 of these people had been given ketamine by medics or doctors.

Source: Miami-Dade Medical Examiner, via Journal of Forensic Sciences, 2025

More ketamine cases involve suicide attempts

Reports of suspected suicide attempts involving ketamine

US poison centers, 2019 to 2023. 51 of 55 centers reported.

Reports to poison centers

25 → 107

Suspected suicide-attempt ketamine exposure reports to poison centers by yearUS poison centers, 2019 through 2023. The scale starts at zero.03060901202520196220205920216620221072023
Suspected suicide-attempt ketamine exposure reports to poison centers by year. US poison centers, 2019 through 2023. The scale starts at zero.
PeriodValue
201925
202062
202159
202266
2023107
Source: Palamar et al., Drug Alcohol Depend 2025 · 2019–2023 · 51 of 55 US poison centers, voluntary reports
↓ Download exposure counts CSV (CSV data file)

Share of cases with a known reason

12.7% → 25.9%

Share of ketamine poison-center reports with a known reason that were suspected suicide attemptsShare of reports with a known reason. The scale starts at zero.07.51522.53012.7%201922.5%202018.7%202121.4%202225.9%2023
Share of ketamine poison-center reports with a known reason that were suspected suicide attempts. Share of reports with a known reason. The scale starts at zero.
PeriodValue (%)
201912.7
202022.5
202118.7
202221.4
202325.9
Source: Palamar et al., Drug Alcohol Depend 2025 · 2019–2023 · cases with a known reason only
↓ Download known-reason share CSV (CSV data file)

In 2019, US poison centers got 25 reports of suspected suicide attempts involving ketamine. In 2023, they got 107. That is more than 4 times as many.

Many people are depressed before they ever use ketamine. We don't know yet if ketamine makes suicidal thoughts worse.

The CDC has data that could help answer this. It keeps the numbers in separate tables. We're asking the CDC to put them together. See our request.

There's another gap. The CDC's overdose numbers leave out suicides. Medical examiners have found ketamine in people who died by suicide in other ways, and no one is counting these deaths across the country. We're asking for that too.

Ketamine from a doctor is different.

In a clinic, it can help people with severe depression. It can quickly ease suicidal thoughts.

In a 2018 trial, ketamine eased suicidal thoughts within a day. Source: Grunebaum et al. (opens in a new tab)

A 2026 study of 23,140 patients on esketamine didn't find a rise in self-harm. Source: Wang et al. (opens in a new tab)

If you're in treatment, keep following your doctor's plan.

What we know. What we don't. What we're asking for.

What we know
What we don't
What we're asking for
What we knowMore overdose deaths had ketamine in them from 2020 to 2024.
What we don'tWe don't know if more people used ketamine or more labs tested for it.
What we're asking forPublish how many deaths were tested for ketamine.
What we knowPoison centers got over 4 times as many suspected suicide-attempt reports from 2019 to 2023.
What we don'tWe don't know if ketamine makes suicidal thoughts worse.
What we're asking forStudy people's symptoms before and after ketamine use.
What we knowMost deaths with ketamine also involved fentanyl, meth or cocaine.
What we don'tWe don't know where the ketamine came from.
What we're asking forRecord where the ketamine came from in death investigations.
What we knowKetamine treatment can ease suicidal thoughts for a short time.
What we don'tWe don't know suicide death rates among people who use ketamine outside treatment.
What we're asking forLink ketamine test results with suicide-death records.

Sources: CDC SUDORS, Palamar et al., MMWR and treatment studies. See the source list below.

Data and sources

Final CDC ketamine data runs through 2024. The dashboard was updated 28 May 2026.

These numbers come from published data and surveys. They are not forecasts. Surveys, poison centers and death records count different things, so we keep them separate. We also keep the two death-record panels separate. Finding ketamine in a person's body does not prove it caused their death.

Have a correction or better data? Send it to us.

Sources used on this page
  1. SUDORS fatal overdose dashboard (opens in a new tab)Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2026
  2. SUDORS fatal overdose data workbook (opens in a new tab)Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2026