Moves to outlaw a drug that came close to killing two people last month are being backed by a top Sussex Police officer.

Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tilzey, drugs coordinator for Sussex Police, said she could not speak for the force but would support the idea to protect people tempted to use it.

Ketamine, a legal anaesthetic used 30 years ago, is being sold as a white powder which is snorted or swallowed as a tablet.

Unlike ecstasy, possessing ketamine, otherwise known as Special K, is not against the law and police are aware of its availability on the club scene.

It is illegal to supply the drug but not to possess it and there are moves within the Home Office to outlaw it.

The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs is recommending ketamine be made a class C drug.

There are major concerns it suppresses breathing and heart function and it is considered dangerous when mixed with other drugs or alcohol.

It can also cause high blood pressure and death from inhaling vomit if taken in large doses.

Ketamine is short-acting but has powerful hallucinogenic qualities. The effects can be devastating.

Two people who took it at Pride in Brighton and Hove became breathless and lost consciousness.

Within minutes they had stopped breathing. When a patient stops breathing they suffer a high risk of brain damage.

St John Ambulance staff worked on one patient for 20 minutes to get oxygen to his dying brain before he was taken to hospital.

One Brighton user said ketamine had become much more accessible and both the gay and straight communities were using it.

DCI Tilzey said: "We need to nip this in the bud.

"We have indications ketamine is available but we do not know whether its use is on the increase.

"Our first concern is for the health and welfare of people and I would not want to see yet another potentially fatal drug being used.

"The Brighton area already sees a high number of fatalities from illegal drug use. We do not want any more."