- they get tased, pepper sprayed, and thrown around by law enforcement officers
- they get a less safe drug like midazolam, lorazepam, or haloperidol
- they get restrained and fight against the restraints which puts them at risk of sudden death and rhabdomyolysis
In some of these cases, it seems like the officers could have tried to de-escalate the situation while keeping these options in reserve in case that failed. The choices don’t have to be either immediate compliance or overwhelming force.
Even with animals—-where the use of drugs is a lot less ethically fraught—-ketamine isn’t necessarily the first option.
"normal" dose would be something like 10-30mg