By Charlotte Hsu
DAILY BRUIN SENIOR STAFF
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Police are investigating the burglary of 20 vials of ketamine – enough to sedate about 250 children – taken from a UCLA pediatric dentistry clinic earlier this month.
School of Dentistry Professor John Yagiela, who reported the burglary, said each of the 20 vials taken contained 500 milligrams of ketamine. Yagiela said the ketamine is kept at the clinic because it is used as an anesthetic.
Children at the clinic receive a dose of 2.5 milligrams per kilogram, which translates to approximately a 40 milligram dose for a typical child.
Yagiela, who works in the division of diagnostic and surgical sciences at the school of dentistry, said the ketamine at the clinic is usually kept locked inside a cabinet – in an office that is also locked.
According to police reports, the ketamine was removed from the clinic between Aug. 27 and Sep. 3. Yagiela said the clinic staff noticed the vials were missing on Sep. 3, and after running an inventory that day, the staff contacted the hospital pharmaceutical services and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
University police were notified this past week through hospital pharmaceutical services, and UCPD spokeswoman Nancy Greenstein said that though police are investigating the case, it is a difficult process because the crime was an isolated incident reported "after the fact."
Yagiela said there was no indication of who could have taken the ketamine because for a short period of time while the clinic staff is accessing the medication, the room is unlocked.
Yagiela said in addition to staff and faculty, parents and others with children could have been in the clinic at the time the burglary occurred.
Greenstein said UCPD has a lead officer who is in charge of working with UCLA hospitals, and the department is working to prevent future thefts.
Yagiela and other sources at the dental school said though the burglary was an atypical occurrence, security has always been a priority.
"We've never had it happen before," Yagiela said. "We're going to try to take some pains to make sure it doesn't happen again."
Among other measures to increase the level of security, Yagiela said the clinic staff plans on changing the locking mechanism of the room that holds the ketamine, as well as eliminating all but one of the keys that can access the room.
These measures were suggested by a pharmacist sent to review the clinic's security after the crime occurred, he added.
Ketamine comes in several forms and can impair people's motor skills and cause dizziness or confusion. According to the DEA, high dosages of ketamine can lead to a feeling that is termed "K-hole" – an "outer-body" or "near-death" experience.
According to brochures produced by the Santa Monica-UCLA Rape Treatment Center, ketamine is sometimes used to sedate and incapacitate people for the purpose of sexually assaulting them.
Ed Smith, who works for Narconon, a residential drug rehabilitation center in Southern California, said ketamine can easily be used in "date rape" situations because of the nature of the drug.
"It's used as a date rape drug because it's a tranquilizer," he said. "If it comes in a clear liquid; you can easily put it in somebody's drink and you wouldn't even know it."
Yagiela said the ketamine stolen from the clinic was in liquid form, which can be put into drinks or injected, and Greenstein said ketamine, known as "Special K," is also used by partygoers.
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