A deadly drug that rots flesh known as deadly drug krokodil, on the street has made its first appearance in the United States with two cases in Arizona in the past week, according to reports.
Powerfully addictive, the drug originated in Siberia in 2002 and has swept Russia in the past three years. The drug has become a cheap substitute for heroin.
The homemade opiate is made from ingredients that are easily obtained - over-the-counter headache pills with codeine mixed with iodine, gasoline, paint thinner or alcohol. When injected, it destroys a user’s tissue, turning the skin scaly and green like a crocodile.
Chemically called desomorphine, the drug became popular in Russia because heroin is difficult to get and expensive. Krokodil costs one-third the price with a high like heroine though much shorter, about 90 minutes.
Time magazine called Deadly drug krokodil “the most horrible drug in the world”, and its investigation showed the average life expectancy of a krokodil addict in Russia to be just two to three years.
Gangrene and amputations are common, and the poisonous mix dissolves jawbones and teeth. Other common effects include festering sores, abscesses, and blood poisoning.
Along with all intravenous drug addicts, krokodil users have compromised immune systems, and are vulnerable to HIV, hepatitis C, and other blood-borne diseases.
One recovering Russian addict told Time that after six years of daily injecting krokodil she has a speech impediment and impaired motor skills related to brain damage from the drug.
She said practically all the addicts she used to shoot up with are dead now. “For some, it led to pneumonia, some got blood poisoning, some had an artery burst in their heart, some got meningitis, others simply rot.”
Another Russian addict told a reporter that a fellow junkie refused to go to the hospital. “Her flesh is falling off and she can hardly move anymore,” she said. Image/Global Grind News
Leave a Reply