As with many other celebrity overdoses, the untimely passing of "Friends" star Matthew Perry was a complex tragedy with many players — but in his case, it's hard not to view the people involved as anything but absolute sketchballs.
In a wide-ranging deep dive, the Los Angeles Times has revealed that along with a deadly cadre of enablers that included Perry's assistant and two doctors, a chaotic drug dealer who calls herself the "Ketamine Queen" was allegedly one of the key figures in his death.
The queen in question is 41-year-old Jasveen Sangha, who according to federal prosecutors ran a lucrative narcotics ring in North Hollywood. While allegedly doing so, Sangha was seen, as the LA Times notes, posing for photos on social media with the likes of Charlie Sheen and Perla Hudson, the ex-wife of Guns N' Roses' Slash.
Her star-studded lifestyle came to a shocking turn, however, after Perry was found face-down in his hot tub last October. An autopsy revealed that along with drowning and a heart issue, the actor likely died from the "acute effects of ketamine."
Sangha has been charged alongside Perry's former assistant Kenneth Iwamasa, accused accomplice Eric Fleming, and doctors Mark Chavez and Salvador Plasencia — the latter of whom referred to the actor as a "moron" in a text message when conspiring with his fellow medical practitioner to rip off the 54-year-old who'd struggled with depression and addiction.
As the newspaper notes, the K-Queen's seized electronic devices contained videos of her cooking the liquified version of the horse tranquilizer on a stove to convert it into powder. As prosecutors allege, Sangha liked to refer to her supplier as the "scientist" and "master chef," which would be a bit too "Breaking Bad" for our palate if it weren't so deadly serious.
Known nearly as well for its dissociative effects as for its therapeutic applications, ketamine has in recent years seen a surge in popularity both in and out of healthcare settings. The nasal spray version of the anaesthetic was approved by the Food and Drug Administration as a treatment for depression in 2019, but alongside its government-approved applications, the drug has also become nearly as popular as it was in the late 1990s and early 2000s rave scene as partygoers have taken back to dancefloors in droves following the end of COVID-19 lockdowns in 2021.
As concerns about drugs being laced with fentanyl have swept Europe and the United States, it seems that there's been a parallel storm brewing among those who struggle with addiction, due to the common misconception that ketamine is neither habit-forming nor easy to overdose with.
Perry's tragic demise is a terrifying reminder that when people struggle with mental health and substance issues, those they surround themselves can very easily harm them.
Though fame and wealth obviously play into the way he was treated by his alleged cadre of dealers and procurers, Perry was ultimately just another person suffering who instead of finding support, was seemingly let down by a bunch of crappy people in the absolute worst way possible.
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