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By Kayla DeKraker
After a near-death experience in 2021 due to ketamine use, actor Joshua Basset reflected on addiction and his gratitude for life.
“[I’d use] whatever was the most effective in that moment at putting me at ease,” Bassett revealed recently, adding that he was “consuming six baggies of ketamine, all by myself, every single night…[instead of] snorting a line, I’d down a whole bag in one whiff.”
He continued, “It got to a point, and I think that’s the thing about a lot of drugs is that they can be fun and enjoyable for a little while, but…what happens is you have a good time and then now you’re at a deficit, a dopamine deficit.”
Bassett explained how drug use keeps you wanting and needing more as your body gets used to it.
“So now you need a little bit more, but then your tolerance goes up. So when you’re at the next deficit, you need even more… It’s a very easy one to fall into. And for me, again, it was just an escape,” he explained.
The DEA describes ketamine as “a dissociative anesthetic that has some hallucinogenic effects. It distorts perceptions of sight and sound and makes the user feel disconnected and not in control. It is an injectable, short-acting anesthetic for use in humans and animals.”
They noted that it is a similar drug to LSD and PCP, saying that ketamine “can cause unconsciousness and dangerously slowed breathing.”
Bassett said, “It’s truly a miracle it didn’t take my life. It’s a miracle my life hasn’t been taken quite a few times, to be honest…You know, it’s a miracle I’m here for sure.”
Related: Disney Channel Star Joshua Bassett Gets Baptized: Jesus is ‘My Lord and Savior’
He said of the time he almost overdosed on the drug, “[The doctors] told me that I had a 30 percent chance of survival. They told me that if I had not checked into the hospital within 12 hours, I would have been found [dead] in my apartment.”
In a post to Instagram, Bassett shared some childhood photos and contemplated his life in the form of a poem. Part of it reads:
if i died today,
and the impact of my life
were reduced to this book,
i would be more than contentno-schooled
self taught in six instruments
i lived on my own in my car at 16sneaking onto high-profile red carpets
i “faked it” til i “made it”just as my career took off
my heart failed, i went septic,
and i was given 12 hours to liveafter i miraculously recovered
i was tormented by a multitude of traumaschildhood wounds surfaced
and i reckoned with my own shadowsnearly killing myself with ketamine
i had an encounter with God
that gave me the peace
i was always looking for
The former Disney Channel star got baptized in 2023.
“No other teacher gave me anywhere near the peace that Jesus Christ did,” Bassett said at the time. “I’m here to publicly declare him as my Lord and Savior.”
Bassett’s story is a reminder that no one is too far gone, and there is always hope to overcome addiction.
Read Next: Disney Channel Star Joshua Bassett: ‘Jesus Christ is the Only Way’
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