Doctors have raised the alarm over the health threat posed by the drug ketamine as the number of users suffering severe kidney and bladder problems has snowballed.
Since a group of local doctors published a world-first research paper in June linking the use of ketamine to kidney and urinary problems, the number of known cases has jumped from 10 to more than 80.
The problem has prompted government plans to set up a HK$1.8 million health-check programme for young ketamine users.
It has also sparked doctors' calls for a central record system and special treatment programme to be set up to determine the extent of the problem - and fight it.
'We are a bit surprised by the rapid increase of patients in such a short time,' said Tuen Mun Hospital urologist Peggy Chu Sau-kwan, one of the doctors to discover the link.
The initial study found a total of 10 cases of severe ketamine-induced urinary problems between 2000 and May this year, with seven of the cases recorded this year. The number of cases had climbed to 80 by early this month. The number could be even higher, as the cases came from just four hospitals: Tuen Mun, Princess Margaret, United Christian and Northern.