This is quite an instructive thread on why it has taken so long for sensible drug policies to be put in place around the world. One person makes a generalization, another person counters with a broader generalization, someone throws in their n=1 experience, and now suddenly we're off the topic of drugs and onto dictating what is "reasonable" discussion for a public forum.
The bottom line: you are responsible for 1) your own intelligence and 2) your own body. Having done research on Ketamine, I was well aware that 70forty's comments were inaccurate, but I chose not reply because he may very well be right by his own definition of "safe" and "non-addictive" based on his knowledge and experience. I would hold anyone who chooses to try any chemical to the same standard -- do your own fact-finding, draw your own conclusions, and be your own authority over your body.
Suggesting that we should suppress any comment that has some remote potential for catastrophe, though, is a bit much.
The problem is, it is "safe" in the sense that it is a medical drug with a known set of effects. You cannot cause breathing to cease with ketamine. People aren't allergic to it. It is used on battlefields and in road traffic accidents for these reasons. It doesn't really cause vomiting, at least not in the lethal combination with total unconsciousness that leads alcohol and heroin to take so many lives. So it is "safe," especially in the context of occasional use.
When you get a community of people with constant, cheap access to large amounts, it's a different story. Ironically, if the acute effects were slightly more severe, the long-term effects might not be such a problem, as chronic abuse would be less prevalent.
It's tough to find statistics but the article below says that between 1993 and 2006, 23 deaths were tied to ketamine use. That to me qualifies as safe and relatively non-addictive in the context of recreational drug use.
I don't see where you are getting "relatively non-addictive" from. I have had many positive experiences with Ketamine, but I will be the first to say that it takes a lot of self-control to not overdo it.
EDIT: To be clear, I am aware ketamine is not physically addictive. However I find it to be one of the most psychologically addictive drugs I have taken.
That's not a good criteria for safety at all (and the conclusion of non-addictiveness is totally unwarranted by the number of deaths). Lots of chemicals are damaging without killing you: lowering your IQ, organ damage, etc.
The bottom line: you are responsible for 1) your own intelligence and 2) your own body. Having done research on Ketamine, I was well aware that 70forty's comments were inaccurate, but I chose not reply because he may very well be right by his own definition of "safe" and "non-addictive" based on his knowledge and experience. I would hold anyone who chooses to try any chemical to the same standard -- do your own fact-finding, draw your own conclusions, and be your own authority over your body.
Suggesting that we should suppress any comment that has some remote potential for catastrophe, though, is a bit much.