Cops drugging people with ketamine to fix a condition that ... doesn't exist

With deadly consequences.

In the late 1970s, a “criminologist” named Charles Wetli coined the term “excited delirium.” The alleged condition caused people on drugs, Wetli claimed, to just drop dead, not as the result of a traditional overdose, but a state of excessive mania that included signs of “super-human” strength.

In the 1980s, when the bodies of young sex workers began appearing in Florida, with no visible cause of death, Wetli suggested “excited delirium” as the cause. In these cases, he theorized the women had dropped dead from too much sex in addition to the cocaine.

You might be shocked to learn that they were the victims of a serial killer, who remains unidentified, and who had murdered the women by constricting their breathing compressing their chests.

“You're talking about little girls on the street, and it's not too hard to asphyxiate them, especially when you have their backs on the ground and your weight on their abdomen," a pathology professor told the Los Angeles Times at the time.

Despite its blatant absurdity, the “condition” made its way into police training manuals, where officers are taught that people in “excited delirium” have “extra-human strength” and also, that they can just die. So you see case after case of people in police custody dying when officers restrain them in a way that restricts their breathing. And when a detainee panics — because they can’t fucking breathe! — the officers see it as resistance, maybe even a sign of “excited delirium,” which conveniently confirms cause of death as an internal condition, not the result of seven fat cops sitting on your back.

A typical both-sidesy mealy mouthed New York Times story talks about the controversy that erupted over the police killing of Elijah McClain in 2019. On an August night in 2019, McClain, a shy, small-statured 23-year-old, bought Arizona Iced Teas at the store and headed home. He had on head phones and was making what one witness said were strange arm movements. The Good Samaritan called 911, noting that “He might be a good person or a bad person.” When officers arrived, he explained he was trying to go home. The encounter escalated, and before long officers tackled him to the ground:

McClain addressed the police in a panicky stream of consciousness recorded in the audio of the body cameras. None of the officers responded to him. “I can’t breathe,” he told them. He said that he had his ID. He told them his name. “I’m an introvert,” he said. “I’m just different. That’s all. I’m so sorry. I have no gun. I don’t do that stuff. I don’t do any fighting. Why are you attacking me? I don’t even kill flies! I don’t eat meat!” He tried desperately to appeal to them. “Forgive me. All I was trying to do was become better. I’ll do it. I will do anything. Sacrifice my identity, I’ll do it.” His last words were “Please help me.”

Two Aurora Fire Rescue paramedics, Jeremy Cooper, then 44, and Peter Cichuniec, then 46, arrived at 10:53 p.m. in response to a call from the police officers, who told them McClain was “on something.” The independent investigation does not note either of them having checked McClain’s vital signs, examining him or speaking to him at all before diagnosing him with “excited delirium” and determining that ketamine should be used to sedate him.

The controversial field diagnosis, characterized by a perception of aggression, distress and extraordinary physical strength, is found in some police training materials and used by some first responders across the country. Though not recognized by medical and psychiatric associations, the diagnosis is often invoked by law enforcement, coroners and medical examiners to justify the lethal use of force by the police. A 2022 report by doctors at Kaiser Permanente, Harvard and the University of Michigan found the term to be a “catchall for deaths occurring in the context of law-enforcement restraint, often coinciding with substance use or mental illness, and disproportionately used to explain the deaths of young Black men in police encounters.”

According to the Journal of Psychiatric Services, it’s not the best idea to give ketamine, a respiratory depressant, to people who can’t breathe:

Excited delirium, a diagnosis not found in the DSM and lacking clear criteria, has been used to explain fatalities of people in police custody, especially deaths of young Black men, and to exculpate police officers from responsibility. The label has also been invoked to justify the forceful restraint and sedation of people who may fail to obey the orders of law enforcement; ketamine, a dissociative anesthetic with potent sedative properties and a high rate of causing respiratory distress, is often used in these situations. This combination of a dubious diagnosis and a medication with serious side effects has set the stage for tragic outcomes.

The use of ketamine to calm agitated people seems like a good idea. Except that excited delirium doesn’t exist. And you’re giving a respiratory suppresant to an oxygen-deprived person that’s just been suffocated by police!