A devastated mother has pleaded with ministers to reclassify ketamine, a party drug, as class A, following the heartbreaking death of her 20-year-old daughter, who suffered a two-year addiction to the drug.
Sophie Russell, from Lincolnshire, first took ketamine, which killed TV star Matthew Perry, in 2021 when she was offered it during a night out with friends.
But he soon developed a rampant addiction and took the drug daily, causing debilitating physical consequences such as agonizing abdominal pain and incontinence.
The medication can damage the lining of the bladder, causing it to become so scarred that it shrinks.
Russell, who worked as an aide at an elementary school, was admitted to an inpatient addiction treatment service for a week but was unable to kick the habit long-term.
Her mother, Tracy Marelli, said community addiction specialists let her daughter down after she was discharged from the hospital.
“I feel like the whole system let her down… I begged the drug support worker to admit her to rehab before she died,” he said.
In late September, Russell traveled to his father’s house for a bath in an attempt to ease his pain.
Tracy Marelli, 48, said everyone loved her daughter, Sophie Russell, who died aged 20 after a ketamine addiction.
Russell is said to have started using the party drug as a way to cope with the grief he suffered following the death of his grandmother (pictured left).
That night he went to bed and never woke up.
The family is still waiting for toxicology results to determine Sophie’s cause of death.
Marelli, 48, said of the moment she learned her daughter had died: “I screamed and fell to the ground. This drug destroyed her.
She believes Ms Russell began using ketamine frequently as a method to numb the pain she felt following her grandmother’s death.
“In mid-November 2021, he started going out with his friends and began taking ketamine while partying, as many young people do,” he said.
“I didn’t know she was doing drugs at all.
‘The first time I knew something was wrong, I kept calling her and she was slurring her words. He couldn’t pronounce some of his words. This happened quite frequently.
“I think I found out about her drug use when I found dust in her room. I asked her why she did it and she said it takes her away from this world and that it’s a better, happier place.
Mrs. Russell was admitted to a rehabilitation center for a week, but the treatment failed to combat the addiction.
The drug took its toll on Mrs Russell: she developed agonizing pain and became incontinent.
Now, Russell’s mother is calling for a change in the law that would reclassify ketamine as a class A drug.
‘I don’t understand it because she was very loved and cared for and had a lot to look forward to in life. I just didn’t understand it.
‘Once I found out what was happening, I told him to stop taking it. We had that conversation but she clearly couldn’t.
“She said she found herself going out with her friends, having a good time partying, and then she found herself sitting in her room, doing it alone.
“She went from laughing to doing it (every day) alone.”
Of the implications for physical health, Ms Russell said: “Sophie was telling me about pain in her tummy, she had hot water bottles constantly.” I took her to the emergency room and suddenly she disappeared.
‘She was a size 14 when she was 18 and ended up being a size six when she passed away. I had lost a lot of weight.
‘The doctors didn’t seem to think there was anything wrong with this. I needed to go to the bathroom all the time. He had been doing pull-ups for over a year and was completely incontinent.
Marelli said ketamine was “everywhere” in the area where the family lived.
Marelli, 48, said of the moment she learned her daughter had died: “I screamed and fell to the ground. This drug destroyed her.
‘I remember he said there were applications to get it. You could order it on your phone and go pick it up somewhere.
“She told me one night that she knew she was going to die from this, but she didn’t want to.”
A week before she died, Ms Russell went to her local emergency room seeking help for severe back pain. But instead of detecting signs of her addiction, doctors sent her home with antibiotics to treat a kidney infection.
“She needed to be hospitalized,” Mrs. Marelli said. “I told them I was addicted to ketamine, but they didn’t ask any questions about it or link anything to it.”
Now, Mirelli asks the Government to reclassify the drug as a class A substance (it is currently class B).
“I understand that young people want to experiment, but not with this drug,” he said. “It should be class A. I would tell other people just don’t do it, it’s not worth the risk.”
In October last year, the world was shocked when Friends star Perry, 54, was found dead in the jacuzzi of her Los Angeles home.
It was learned that actor Chandler Bing died from the acute effects of ketamine, after having been using it to treat depression.
In the UK, young people consider ketamine, sometimes called ket or ‘special K’, to be a cheaper alternative to cocaine.