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There is a ketamine crisis on the streets of our towns and cities. In Burnley a few weeks ago, a 16 year old boy fell into a canal and drowned, his friends apparently unable to rescue him. All were under the influence of ketamine.

Since then I have heard numerous accounts from clergy and community workers about the destructive impact that this drug is having on family life, especially in urban areas. Ketamine has legitimate uses, especially as a horse tranquillizer and in small doses as an anti-depressant. But it is now rife as an illegal drug, often sold by children to children with a street value that makes it cheaper then alcohol. I’ve heard heart-breaking stories from East Lancashire of parents in utter despair as they watch the drug take hold of their young people.

But to tackle a problem like this, it’s important to understand the causes. One GP described ketamine to me as a drug of escape. Heavy users talk about going into a K-hole, a profound dissociative state in which they step out of consciousness. For some this helps with their depression or anxiety. Others describe hallucinogenic experiences in which they feel detached from themselves. Many ketamine users seem to feel a deep dissatisfaction with who they are, so a synthetic cocktail of chemicals is offering them a different or deeper meaning to their lives.

Of course a deeper meaning to life is what faith seeks to offer because it provides a place in which people can wrestle with these complex issues around the purpose of life. One of the most captivating encounters Jesus has is with Nicodemus, a religious leader and a searcher who is intrigued by what Jesus has to say.

Jesus points Nicodemus to the transcendent dimension of his life. ‘You must be born from above,’ he says. His life is worth more than he believes. And Jesus offers Nicodemus a way to become more aware of his own identity as he comes to understand what a life lived in relationship with him might have to offer.

Any response to the ketamine crisis needs to be multi-layered. It is good to see in the Government’s recently launched ten year plan for the NHS a commitment to much improved treatment for drug and alcohol addiction. But it is also critical for them and others to offer ways in which young people can address these deeper questions of purpose. They need spaces and relationships in which they can explore their own value and worth. Because surely for our children, life is something that they should be delighting in rather than seeking to escape.

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