There are drugs, addictive substances that harm the body and mind, and then there is Krokodil. This drug, an illegal, synthesized opiate far more powerful than heroin, is responsible for some of the most destructive narcotic-related suffering the world has ever seen. It has been nicknamed "Krokodil" because it literally eats its users alive.
Krokodil is almost exclusively made at home by the very junkies that consume it. As far as drug safety goes, Krokodil is at the bottom. Prescription drugs, while sometimes responsible for deadly overdoes, are manufactured under strict supervision as to their purity and ingredients. Even street drugs such as cocaine and marijuana are usually processed and produced by criminals that have a pretty good idea of what they're doing.
Krokodil, on the other hand, is produced with no regard for its purity or the effect it will have on the human body. The only effect that addicts are interested in is the powerful high they will receive after boiling, mixing, shaking and distilling a combination of over-the-counter painkillers and industrial chemicals such as gasoline, iodine and lighter fluid.
The Key Ingredient
These harsh chemicals are needed to turn the basic, key ingredient-codeine-based headache pills-into the caramel-colored sludge that will be injected into veins by way of dirty needles. The actual drug at the heart of the sludge-desomorphine-may be just as bad for you as other opiate drugs (in other words, you can get addicted to it and have negative health effects just like you could with Vicodin or morphine.)
In order to produce desomorphine, however, addicts home brewing the drug introduce many impurities and toxic additives. When they inject Krokodil into their bodies, they will get the rush of heroin but not for nearly as long as the real thing. After an hour and a half the addict is worrying about how to get another fix, and the caustic poisons in their body have already started to take effect.
Even short-term use of Krokodil can lead to a user's skin taking on a scaley, dying appearance before it starts to flake off. The skin and muscles start to rot away and can expose the bones beneath. If you want graphic and disturbing proof of this phenomenon, run a Google Images search on the drug. You have been warned: these images are a nauseating example of what exactly drug use can do to a person's body.
Krokodil is almost exclusively made at home by the very junkies that consume it. As far as drug safety goes, Krokodil is at the bottom. Prescription drugs, while sometimes responsible for deadly overdoes, are manufactured under strict supervision as to their purity and ingredients. Even street drugs such as cocaine and marijuana are usually processed and produced by criminals that have a pretty good idea of what they're doing.
Krokodil, on the other hand, is produced with no regard for its purity or the effect it will have on the human body. The only effect that addicts are interested in is the powerful high they will receive after boiling, mixing, shaking and distilling a combination of over-the-counter painkillers and industrial chemicals such as gasoline, iodine and lighter fluid.
The Key Ingredient
These harsh chemicals are needed to turn the basic, key ingredient-codeine-based headache pills-into the caramel-colored sludge that will be injected into veins by way of dirty needles. The actual drug at the heart of the sludge-desomorphine-may be just as bad for you as other opiate drugs (in other words, you can get addicted to it and have negative health effects just like you could with Vicodin or morphine.)
In order to produce desomorphine, however, addicts home brewing the drug introduce many impurities and toxic additives. When they inject Krokodil into their bodies, they will get the rush of heroin but not for nearly as long as the real thing. After an hour and a half the addict is worrying about how to get another fix, and the caustic poisons in their body have already started to take effect.
Even short-term use of Krokodil can lead to a user's skin taking on a scaley, dying appearance before it starts to flake off. The skin and muscles start to rot away and can expose the bones beneath. If you want graphic and disturbing proof of this phenomenon, run a Google Images search on the drug. You have been warned: these images are a nauseating example of what exactly drug use can do to a person's body.
Preventing Krokokil Use
The Drug Enforcement Agency has been watching to see if the drug makes an appearance in the United States, but as of 2011 it had not shown up here yet. This is good news for the United States for the time being, but officials are not letting their guard down. In a way, Krokodil is a worst-case scenario drug. It is incredibly hard to rehabilitate, as withdrawal symptoms can be far more powerful and painful than even heroin withdrawal. Obviously, no one wants this to spread to their own community.
Just like the actual spread of an epidemic, Krokodil is a disease that needs to be stopped before it can spread any further. By educating ourselves, our families and our communities about the dangers of drugs in general, we can help others to not make the mistake of starting to use drugs in the first place. By helping prevent first-time drug use, hopefully we can prevent Krokodil from every devouring any more lives.
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