Mum who lost daughter to ketamine addiction calling for more awareness
Natalie Ashton is speaking at an event in St Helens today (21 February)
A mum-of-four from Skelmersdale, who lost her daughter to ketamine addiction, is vowing not to stay quiet in her 'mission' to stop others from suffering.
Beth Ashton, 25, died in November 2024 after the Class B drug destroyed her health - her use became even more serious after suffering personal tragedies, which included losing her baby son.
Natalie Ashton founded 'West Lancs Ketamine Awareness & Support' after Beth's death - a community group focused on prevention, education, and support for parents and young people.
She is speaking at Ketamine Awareness Day in St Helens today (21 February) to help raise awareness of the dangers, address peer pressure linked to the drug, and to try and stop more young people from using it.
Natalie said:
"Through doing this work, I've realised that it's (ketamine addiction) an epidemic. Ketamine use is a growing epidemic, not just for young people, but for children - and that's the scary thing.
"We're talking about children who are using it as young as nine and ten, which is absolutely terrifying and this drug is tearing families apart all across the country right now.
"There's not one place in the UK that is immune right now. It's absolutely flooded everywhere.
"It's so cheap and it's so available that it's become the drug of choice for many people that really don't know the risks of long-term ketamine use and the dangers that this substance will destroy the body in such a short amount of time, it's terrifying.
"There's not enough awareness out there"
"I think at the moment, there's not enough awareness out there from the government and there's not enough knowledge for health professionals right now.
"It is unfortunately left up to people in recovery or parents, like myself, who aren't willing to stay quiet and feel the need to warn other people about the dangers surrounding this substance.
"Breaking stigma is really important, not just about ketamine addiction, any addiction.
"Prevention and education is better than intervention"
"It's like a taboo subject. They don't want to talk about it to the children in case they're putting ideas in the head, but for me, you need to sit down and talk to your child when it comes to their substance use because there's no use thinking that it won't happen to me, because I never thought I would lose my daughter.
"I never thought she would be addicted to this substance, but unfortunately she was and she's no longer here. So prevention and education is better than intervention - and that's what I hope that this day is going to bring about, is a bit more education around what this drug will actually do to someone's body."