Revealed: University of Sheffield spends hundreds of pounds on ketamine each year

The University of Sheffield spends hundreds of pounds each year on ketamine, The Sheffield Tab can exclusively reveal.

A Freedom of Information (FOI) request submitted by The Sheffield Tab has discovered that the university has spent £342.12 on ketamine procurement over the past two years.

Last year, the University of Sheffield spent £166.29 exactly on ketamine. In 2024 so far, they’ve spent £175.83.

Under UK law, ketamine is a Class B drug, carrying a maximum sentence of five years in prison, an unlimited fine, or both for possession.

Ketamine is one of a number of drugs, typically thought of as recreational drugs, that are also used in medical settings. Cocaine is another. According to the results of The Sheffield Tab’s FOI request, the University of Sheffield hasn’t purchased any new cocaine for several years.

The ketamine bought by the University of Sheffield is could be used for its medical purposes – as an anaesthetic, or, as it is less often used, as an antidepressant in the university’s medical school.

The revelations about the university’s ketamine spending comes following news that staff passed a no confidence vote in the university’s leadership at a meeting of the University of Sheffield’s branch of the University and Colleges Union (UCU).

Sheffield UCU cited planned staff cost cuts, and a voluntary severance scheme, that the University of Sheffield has said are “part of a range of measures to address a financial shortfall.”

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