Ketamine is a unique anaesthetic and analgesic that has unfortunately become a popular recreational drug. In an attempt to reduce recreational use, and on the recommendation of its Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), the UK government decided to ban all ketamine-like drugs (analogues) and also put ketamine itself under greater controls. The recreational use in other countries could lead to an even more outrageous decision: the restriction of ketamine as a medicine world-wide by the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND).