Back in the early-mid 90s Ketamine got very popular in the underground party/teknival scene in the UK/ Europe. At the time it wasn't even on a schedule in the UK and many other countries. It was basically like getting caught with a lot of aspirin. Various people used to buy loads of it from various pharmacies in India, and then transfer it into rose water bottles. Then they'd either bring it back in their hold luggage or DHL it back. Some people made a lot of money. After 9-11 it became difficult to ship liquids, and then eventually it got schedule 2 status so was much more risky. The first time I came to Cambodia it made me laugh that the ketamine they were selling in the pharmacy across from my hotel was made in a Bayer factory I used to go past everyday on my way to school. I wasn't interested in it myself, I thought that Phnom Penh was trippy enough in 1999 without hallucinogens.

There's a "The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers" comic from around 1974 where they inadvertently take Ketamine ( they thought it was coke) and drive off into a nightmare landscape of bats and lightning. I wish I could find it, it's hilarious.