Stories of Special K patients

Special K is street drug made from the anesthetic ketamine and it is abused by a select group of patients. They are usually young and come from wealthy families and have promising prospects for their lives. But due to various reasons they become drug abusers, and cannot extricate themselves from the drug habit. As a urologist, I thought I would never have contact with this group. However, by chance, I provided care for some of these patients and began to learn more about them. The underlying story with each of them poses an important question for physicians. When a disease has become a social problem, what role should medicine play in it?