Yesterday the Aurora City Council voted to ban the use of ketamine, the drug which killed Elijah, until the city concludes its investigation. This is fantastic news!
Just last week, the Colorado Society of Anesthesiologists asked the CDPHE to halt ketamine use during arrests like Elijah’s. In their report they expressed concern about a 24% complication rate in 2019 – in other words, one quarter of people injected with ketamine in encounters with law enforcement suffered complications.
The city of Aurora has serious questions about ketamine. Colorado anesthesiologists believe that ketamine should not be used by law enforcement. The Colorado Department of Health is conducting its own investigation as well. Now our next step is to get the Department of Health to recommend a state-wide ban on ketamine use by law enforcement.