Sep 30, 2013 | By Tim Powers

The Horrors of Krokodil

Addiction & Recovery News

Krokodil

A caustic, homemade drug that aggressively eats through the flesh of users has made inroads into the United States.  Recently, two deaths in Arizona were attributed to the use of krokodil, a highly addictive designer drug that had surfaced in Siberia in the early 2000’s and spread through Russia within three years.  Krokodil, also known as the “zombie apocalypse” drug, got its name from the hideous side effects seen in users of the drug. Wherever krokodil is injected, it damages the blood vessels and tissue and the flesh turns green and scaly.  Skin tissue and blood vessels become damaged and causes the flesh to rot from the inside out.

krokodil

What Krokodil Is

Krokodil is the street name for the drug and chemically it is known as desomorphine, an opioid.  Desomorphine is a potent painkiller that was patented in the United States in the 1930’s and didn’t have recreational uses until its emergence in Russia.  Krokodil is homemade and contains ingredients such as codeine (from over-the-counter medications), iodine, gasoline, red phosphorus, paint thinner or alcohol.  The method of creating krokodil is similar to making methamphetamine.  The method of use is through injection and is usually filtered or boiled first, because users think the process removes any impurities that may be present.

The Origins and Appeal of Krokodil

As stated earlier, krokodil first emerged in Siberia in the early 2000’s.  Krokodil became a popular drug due to the fact that heroin could be difficult to obtain and is expensive in Russia.  Also, krokodil is less expensive not only to purchase but to make as well.  Krokodil produces a similar high to heroin, but the effects only last about ninety minutes.

Because of the less expensive cost, the use of the drug became widespread through Russia within a matter of just a few years with the greatest impact felt in the poor rural communities in Russia.  In an article published in Mother Jones this month, it was reported that up to 5 percent of Russian drug users have used krokodil.  While the use of krokodil worldwide is not known, use of the drug has been confirmed among Russian communities in a number of European countries.

Effects of Use

Users inject krokodil and at the injection site, the skin turns green and scaly like a crocodile, showing symptoms of gangrene.  In severe cases, the skin rots away revealing bone beneath, hence its nickname the “zombie apocalypse” drug.  Other permanent effects that are noted with krokodil use include erratic and jerky movements and speech impediments.  Other hideous effects include the disintegration of jawbones and teeth and in the most severe cases amputations are common.

As with intravenous drug usage, there is a greater susceptibility to HIV and hepatitis C among other blood-borne illnesses

Implications

The Drug Enforcement Administration has been monitoring krokodil use since 2011.  The two cases reported in Arizona, while not officially confirmed as krokodil cases, bear the hallmarks associated with usage of krokodil.  As of now, the DEA has not declared krokodil a controlled substance.  The main appeal of the drug is its cost.  The Mother Jones article stated that an injection of krokodil can cost around $6 to $8 whereas an injection of heroin can run about $25.

21 responses to “The Horrors of Krokodil”

  • David Brown

    11 years ago

    Reply

    If you stick needles in your body and do drugs you are getting what you asked for ….. DEATH ….it doesnt matter what drug you inject … your just trying to not be a human being anymore and its not like you deserve to die … your dead anyways ….its not what God intended for you ……

  • Rita Horton

    11 years ago

    Reply

    There is a rumor floating around that this drug has hit the Boston MA area . This is NO JOKE. if it has hit the area, the correct people should be notified and there should be a bulletin posted across the bottom of every television station. Just knowing that it’s in the United States alone is enough to scare the hell out of people. what if a small child picks a syringe off the ground in a park, and it had the Krokodil substance in it. and the little child pricks her finger??? DON’T LET THIS BE A JOKE… STOP THE RUMORS AND FIND THE REAL FACTS!!!

  • freedfromthehell143

    11 years ago

    Reply

    Omg…no its not a rumor..yes it is here…and just like any drug its dangerous…no more than shooting smoking sniffing or eating any drug..and the sad truth is…children find needles every day..they ways will…that is the sad sad truth…ive been in recovery for years..and another truth is that notariety from THIS PARTICULAR drug isnt going to stop chdren from finding needles …this is a cruel world

  • Rita Horton

    11 years ago

    Reply

    Thanks for the reply FFTHell. It’s very frightening and I just cant believe the people that are throwing the rumors out there! I, as you, are in recovery and I go every morning to dose. There hasn’t been 1 morning in months where the pictures aren’t coming out, and the people are saying something about this drug, but no one has the right cities or states. Would you know where it is? these people need to be warned!

  • Tiffany Shadley

    11 years ago

    Reply

    First of all this is to David Brown how dare you you suck bag talking about people like that ……ADDICTION IS THE WORST THING IN THE WORLD HOW DARE YOU TALK ABOUT PEOPLE LIKE THAT ….LOSER ……U ARE. WHERE U EVER HELD DOWN A Fuc&&en RADPED ? OR ABANDON? U don’t know why people use drugs so go live in your perfect world

  • linda

    10 years ago

    Reply

    nobody deserves to die they need long time help they are a person they just got hooked on something that they cant stop i no my daughter is a a druger user and has been for years which landed her in jail ipray for her ever day cause i love her and want her to get help she is going to be 38 the 29 of this month shes got 4 kids buth dont have any of them

  • Caroline

    10 years ago

    Reply

    The reason it is called Krokodil is because chemically, it is synthesized from alpha-chlorocodide. Not because of the way it affects the skin.

  • Bamagrl2014

    10 years ago

    Reply

    I’m with you David Brown! These idiots are choosing death by shooting up this garbage. Let them kill themselves off and weed out the morons. Tiffany Shadley, if people choose to do drugs that is their prerogative. If they can’t deal with LIFE and that’s the way they want to go through it, then why should we care. Pretty nasty of you to wish such hate on someone for voicing their opinion. Face the fact- addiction is a choice. If you’re parents were loser druggies, that does not mean you will be.

  • TopFlightSecurity

    10 years ago

    Reply

    I found this while searching Google for answers to something I saw while on overnight security duty here in Boston. For confidentiality reasons and to protect the interests on my clients and company, I will not disclose the location or my real name. But I will say it happened in Boston on an overnight shift of mine. While doing an exterior round, a homeless man with a rotten eye and the area around it bleeding and beginning to rot approached me asking for WD40. I was so in shock by what I saw because this is the stuff of Hollywood happening right in front of me except he was fully conscious; not an undead zombie. I informed him that he cannot be near the site and I cannot offer him anything. I immediately realized that he needed it to cook his drugs, but I also knew it couldn’t be heroine because it doesn’t require much more than a lighter and a spoon. This is common knowledge to anyone who knows or has known an addict. Boston has had an ugly long standing problem with heroine. It affected a few people I went to school with. One thing I can say is that not even after years of heroine abuse does it cause random areas of necrosis across the body no where near the injection site. With heroine it’s pretty tell-tale with repeat use of one area. And not even the craziest junkie would ever shoot up through the eyeball! I knew that with this homeless man something out of the ordinary was up and it needs attention. It took me a bit of googling to discover that not only can gasoline be used as a cooking catalyst in Krokodil production, but pretty much any petroleum distillate can be used, such as WD40. So yes Rita Horton and freedfromthehell143, Krokodil has landed in Boston. As for you Tiffany Shadley, haven’t you figured out by now that not all the selfish b!tching in the world will make anyone with a shed of decency respect you even a little more? Call a spade a spade and an ace an ace. You are no ace. Nothing you say or do will ever change that except for VAST self improvement and eating a sh!tload of humble pie, especially in your case, Mrs “HAVE YOU EVER BEEN HELD DOWN AND RAPED??”. People like you who try to stand above other people with that bullsh!t usually get knocked down pretty quick and pretty hard. We see through you and your KROKODIL TEARS. Eat sh!t b!tch.

  • Ben c

    9 years ago

    Reply

    Bamagirl you obviously don’t know what the disease of addiction and don’t realize it’s not a choice. People like you are the reason people like that can’t get help.

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