‘My ketamine addiction got me locked up in Japan – it isn’t the innocent party drug people think it is’
IIn the early hours of April 12 last year, nine Japanese police officers gathered silently outside a hotel room in Osaka. Inside and unannounced, 26-year-old Briton Izabel Rose was suffering the effects of a bad hangover after a night out. Finally needing a shared bathroom, Ms. Rose opened the door and the officers came downstairs.
A few days ago, Ms Rose had texted a friend in England asking them to send her the class B drug ketamine. He had left London at the beginning of the month when he was in the depths of his drug addiction and hoped his travels would be an opportunity for him to get away from his usual surroundings.
But once he got there, he found himself trying to find the illegal substance. He eventually paid his friend £150 for 7 grams (0.25oz) of ketamine, which was sent to him by post hidden inside a birthday card after he couldn’t find it anywhere else. However, the package was seized at the border and Ms Rose was arrested in her hotel room a short time later.
This was the beginning of what would be a five-month stint in a Japanese detention center after he confessed to importing drugs.
To talk IndependentHe said the experience was “the most traumatic thing that’s ever happened to me,” but he’s sharing his story in hopes of raising awareness of what he calls the ketamine addiction “crisis.”
‘A slippery slope’
Ms. Rose recalls first encountering ketamine at university. He said he didn’t really like the drug when he first took it because it made him uncomfortable, but after moving in with a friend who was a “regular” user, the drug quickly became a frequent part of his life.
He described going from using the drug occasionally as part of rave scenes in London to using it every day within a few months, eventually taking ketamine frequently while his flatmates watched films on weekday evenings.
“That turned into me buying my own and then using it on my own,” he said.
“My usage went from party to everyday life very quickly and it was a very slippery slope.”
His body also began to suffer the consequences of ketamine use. He began experiencing abdominal cramps, known as “K cramps”, which even prompted him to visit A&E.
He was beginning to realize he was going down a “dark path” but said he was “in denial” about his addiction.
“I wanted to stop, but I couldn’t,” he said.
In April 2025, he decided to take a trip to Japan, a place he had always wanted to travel to, in the hope that his time away from London would also help him avoid the temptation of taking drugs.
‘My intention was never to import’
But before she even went through customs in Japan, Ms. Rose said she tried to find drugs on her phone.
“Addiction doesn’t understand geography and the voice in my head took control and half an hour after landing,” he admitted.
He texted a friend who he believed could find him a dealer in the area, saying his “intention was never to import.” Instead, his friend suggested they send him ketamine in the mail.
“Right then and there, I decided to send them the money,” he said. “The next day they went to the post office and put the ketamine in a birthday card and mailed it to me.”
A week later, Ms. Rose was arrested at her hotel in Osaka.
‘My life flashed before my eyes’
Ms Rose said she initially “naively” believed she could talk her way out of trouble.
Despite Japan’s strict drug laws, he had also purchased marijuana while in the country and decided to turn it over to investigators in the hope it would calm them down.
“They very quickly said, ‘That’s not why we’re here; my stomach turned and my life flashed before my eyes.’
Over the next few days he was questioned by investigators, who confiscated his phone. After consulting with a lawyer, he decided to confess to importing ketamine into the country.
Ms. Rose was then taken to the Osaka Detention Center and remained there for five months.
‘The most traumatic thing that ever happened to me’
He described the first two months of his detention as the most difficult, as he struggled with coming to terms with his situation as well as withdrawing from ketamine.
“There were moments when I cried and became very emotional,” he said. “Ketamine numbs your emotions so much that when you stop, it all comes rushing back.”
He added that he spent most of his days alone with his thoughts, an experience that was “very lonely and isolating.”
But despite these challenges, Ms. Rose said she was able to use the experience to establish a routine of exercise, meditation, reading about addiction and journaling.
“It was hard at first, it was a shock to the system, but it was really helpful for me to not have my phone and just have time to think and journal,” she said.
After spending five months isolated almost exclusively in her small cell, Ms. Rose was given a suspended sentence, meaning she could be released but would be imprisoned again if she committed any crimes in Japan.
‘This is a crisis’
Ms Rose is now back in England and recovering.
She bravely shares her story on TikTok on his account Raising awareness about the dangers of ketamine addiction.
“I think there’s a stigma about what addicts look like, but they’re just normal people,” he said. “Ketamine addiction is a real crisis and we need to try to help people in the best way possible.”
Latest government data published in December 2025 revealed that the number of under-17s reporting problems with ketamine had doubled between 2021 and 2024. Ketamine is the fourth most used drug in treatment for those under the age of 17, after marijuana, alcohol and nicotine.
Grace Willsher, head of youth services in the north for drug and alcohol charity WithYou, said the number of young people supported for ketamine use in its services had more than doubled in the last five years.
he said Independent The charity is “concerned that the risks associated with ketamine are not well understood”, adding that its easy availability and low cost mean many people view it as a “party drug” and alternative to alcohol.
But he warned that ketamine could cause “permanent damage” to the body “in a very short period of time.”
“This includes really scary effects like bladder problems, changes to mental health and memory, and damage to the nose, liver and kidneys,” he said.
WithYou aims to help prevent harm by encouraging young people to get advice and support about drug and alcohol use early, before problems escalate.
Ms Willsher encouraged anyone who is worried about themselves or someone they know to get in touch for support.
If you’re worried about yourself or someone you know (whether it’s a family member, a friend, a child, a colleague or a student), contact WithYou for support.
Services are free and non-judgmental, and the website web chat, staffed by trained rescue workers, not AI, is available at wearewithyou.org.uk 9am-9pm on weekdays and 10am-4pm at weekends.
