Minneapolis, MN – Last week, The Free Thought Project reported  that cops were caught involuntarily injecting unruly suspects with the  powerful sedative ketamine, which police classify as a date rape drug. Since the initial story was made public, more details have emerged in  the case, revealing a twisted study that has been going on for many  years, researching the effects of different sedatives on patients, many  times without their knowledge or consent. 

This research has been taking place at Hennepin Healthcare, under the  supervision of doctors and full knowledge and encouragement from the  local police. 

The Star Tribune  interviewed numerous victims who were involuntarily enrolled in the  study, and not made aware of the fact that they were drugged until  afterward. 

Representatives of Hennepin Healthcare have defended the study, insisting that sedating agitated people can save lives. According to the hospital, the studies have been approved and do not  require consent from the patients because they are “performed in  emergency situations.” 

“We’ve all seen agitated and confused people just die, and we’re  certain we can prevent that. We want to do it the best way possible,” said Dr. James Miner, chief of emergency medicine at Hennepin Healthcare.

 Dr. Jon Cole, emergency physician and toxicologist at Hennepin Healthcare made similar statements, saying that, “To us, restraints without a sedative is really bad medical care.” “Frankly, it’s a big concern of ours. Anytime that we interact  with EMS about this, we emphasize to them, crystal clear: In no way is  the study ever to increase the number of sedations. We want to observe normal, usual sedation practices,” Cole added. 

However, there have been multiple cases where this type of sedation  has actually put a patient’s life at extreme risk. Body camera footage  from one of these encounters showed a woman begging for an asthma  inhaler after being maced by police, but instead, she was injected with ketamine and fully sedated. 

According to the initial reports about the incident, an unnamed paramedic told one of the officers on duty that “If  she was having an asthma attack, giving ketamine actually helps  patients and we’re doing a study for agitation anyway so I had to give  her ketamine.” 

The report also indicated that “It is troubling that the dictate  of the ‘study’ mentioned by the paramedics appears to have played a  significant role in the decision to administer ketamine.” 

The ketamine did not actually help the woman as the paramedic  suggested, but it actually stopped her heart momentarily, before she was  resurrected by paramedics. Also, according to one of the hospitals own studies, patients who are  given ketamine are more likely to have breathing problems. 

The study  showed that 57 percent of patients who were given ketamine needed to  have a tube put in their throat to help them continue breathing. Ketamine, the tranquilizer that is being used, has been popular in  the club scene for years and has recently seen limited therapeutic  research and use for a number of psychological ailments, including  depression. 

Despite the fact that it is a “party drug,” Ketamine is an  extremely strong dissociative, which can severely impair memory and make  it difficult for people to move. For this reason, the Minneapolis Police Department manual classifies  Ketamine as a “date rape” drug, despite the fact that it is a well-known  and popular party drug that large numbers of people do voluntarily, on  their own free will. 

However, the fact that the department considers  this a “date rape” drug, makes it even more alarming that they are  involuntarily dosing suspects with this substance when they have not  even been charged with a crime.