14 DAY TRIAL // Two cases of people addicted to a flesh-eating drug nicknamed “krokodil” have been reported in the state of Arizona in the US. Given the fact that these two cases are the first of their kind to have ever been documented in this country, the news did not take long to make headlines.
Specialists explain that this drug, whose more official name is desomorphine, has first emerged in Russia as a cheaper alternative to heroin.
From a chemical standpoint, the drug resembles morphine and heroin, Live Science tells us.
By the looks of it, people can easily cook it in their homes. This is because it is basically a combination of codeine and gasoline, oil, alcohol or paint thinner.
As harmful as heroin is, desomorphine appears to be far worse.
Thus, this injectable and highly addictive drug triggers tissue necrosis, and causes the people who are addicted to it to develop dark, gruesome lesions on their skin. Hence the fact that gangrene and amputations are fairly common among users.
In fact, specialists say that most of the people who are addicted to this drug eventually develop medical complications such as severe scarring, bone damage, amputated limbs, brain damage and poor motor skills.
The result is that they die some 2 – 3 years after they start using it.
Some say that, all things considered, it is by no means far-fetched to say that the drug eats its victims alive. Hence the fact that it has been nicknamed “krokodil,” which translates as “crocodile.”
Commenting on the two cases of addiction to this drug that have been reported in Arizona, Dr. Frank LoVecchio, i.e. the current director of the state's Banner Good Samaritan Poison and Drug Information Center, said that, “As far as I know, these are the first cases in the United States. So we're extremely frightened.”
“This is really frightening. This is something we hoped would never make it to the U.S. because it's so detrimental to the people who use it,” added Dr. Aaron Skolnik, a toxicologist also working at the Center.