Krokodil

From Drug Rehab Wiki

Krokodil, otherwise known as desomorphine, is a synthetic opiate that is many times stronger than heroin and even more addictive. Krokodil, or Crocodile in English, is extremely popular in Russia, where it kills most users within a matter of months. Its name is derived from the fact that it tends to poison and deaden the flesh surrounding the injection site, turning the user’s skin scaly and green before gangrene sets in and the flesh rots away from the bones.

Popular with the poor, Krokodil is easier and cheaper to make than heroin, and involves cooking codeine, a poppy-based painkiller that, although regulated in the US, is available cheaply and without a prescription in Russia. Users mix the codeine with gas, turpentine, iodine, hydrochloric acid and red phosphous. Once cooked, the drug can be injected via syringe. Krokodil addicts typically cook new batches continuously throughout the day and will continue unabated until they eventually rot to death.

Withdrawal from Krokodil is incredibly painful and symptoms can last up to a month (versus no more than a week for heroin). Without the use of tranquilizers, many addicts who are trying to withdraw from Krokodil will pass out from the pain. Although Krokodil has been stalking Russia for over four years, it has not yet hit the US. Given the availability of cheaper illicit drugs, like black tar heroin, DEA officials are hopeful that it will not invade our shores. Stunningly, Russia has taken no definitive steps toward putting codeine behind the counter leading some commentators to speculate about the amount of money codeine manufacturers stand to lose from a Krokodil crackdown.