References

While Eleusis emphasizes the use of Ketamine as an entheogen for alternative addiction treatment, it is primarily used today as an anesthetic. Synthesized in 1962 and patented for use as an anesthetic in humans in 1966, Ketamine became the most widely used anesthetic during the Vietnam War when American anesthesiologists and surgeons familiarized themselves with this agent. In 1970, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Ketamine for use with children, adults and the elderly due to its large margin of safety and high level of effectiveness.

During the late 1960s, American scientist John Lilly, M.D, conducted the initial research with Ketamine as an agent to induce non-ordinary states of consciousness. Dr. Lilly determined the relationship between the dosage and the nature of the Ketamine experience. He summarized the findings in his book The Scientist: A Metaphysical Autobiography, published by Ronin Publishing in 1997.

In 1973, Iranian psychiatrist E. Khorramzadeh, M.D., published the first report about the use of Ketamine as an adjunct to psychotherapy. His report, The Use of Ketamine in Psychiatry, was published in the Psychosomatic Journal, XIV, 344-346. In 1976, he published a second report entitled Personality Predisposition and Emergence Phenomena with Ketamine, also in the Psychosomatic Journal, XVII, 94-95.

In 1985, Soviet psychiatrist Evgeny Krupitsky, M.D., developed Ketamine Psychedelic Therapy (KPT), which he initially used as an alternative alcoholism treatment methodology. In 1992, he published the first report of his studies, The Combination of Psychedelic and Aversive Approaches in Alcoholism Treatment: The Affective Contra-Attribution Method, in the Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly, 9(1), 99-105. In 1997, Dr. Krupitsky published his extensive second report, Ketamine Psychedelic Therapy (KPT): A Review of the Results of Ten Years of Research, in the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 29(2), 165-183. In 2002, he published a third report of his studies, Ketamine Psychotherapy for Heroin Addiction: Immediate Effects and Two-Year Follow-Up (PDF), in the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 23, 273-283. Among Krupitsky's other publications is Metabolism of Biogenic Amines Induced by Alcoholism Narcopsychotherapy with Ketamine Administration, which was published in 1990 in the journal Biogenic Amines, 7(6), 577-582.

In 1991, another Soviet psychiatrist, Igor Kungurtsev, M.D., who initially worked with Dr. Krupitsky and later immigrated to the United States, published a summary about a series of self-administrations of Ketamine. His report, "Death-Rebirth" Psychotherapy with Ketamine, was published in The Albert Hofmann Foundation Bulletin, 2(4), 1-6.