Kroc Kills

I previously stated something to the effect of bath salt zombies and addiction would be the catalyst for the end of the world as we know it.  It seems I’m on the right track.  A friend recently posted about googling the effects of krokodil.  Sounded interesting so I had to know what it was.

A couple hours later I was eyeball deep in the Russian drug scene.  Recent law changes have tightened the flow of heroine in from Afghanistan and made it much harder to come by.  While here stateside, amateur chemists are busy cooking meth, Russian “make-your-dope-at-home” addicts are responsible for the invasion of a drug referred to as Krokodil. 

The drug’s reptilian name comes from it’s immediate effect of turning the skin flaky and greenish.  Users eventually end up looking like zombies, with sores continuing to literally eat away their flesh all the way to the bone.  The images and videos that follow are about as graphic as it gets, you’ve been warned.

That used to be an arm.

Krokodil is actually a synthetic form of morphine, actually called Desomorphine.  The drug was discovered in 1932 and was intended to be a substitute for morphine.  It’s use was quickly discontinued when it was found to be much more addictive than morphine.  Russian addicts desperate for a fix have been cooking up their own recipe of krokodil.  Especially in isolated and poor regions of the country, addicts continually go about the process of distilling and boiling that takes about an hour.  Krokodil’s effects, similar to that of heroine, only lasts for up to an hour.  The life of a user often consists of a continuous cycle of cooking and using. 

Actual person, not a Walking Dead extra.

Codeine tablets are available over the counter in Russia.  They’re krokodil’s main ingredient, cooked together with match tips, gas, paint-thinner, lighter fluid, and iodine.  Yeah.  When produced in a lab with proper equipment, the drug is clean.  When made with makeshift tools, it’s byproducts are as toxic and corrosive as they come. The solution is injected by users.  While it gives them their fix for a short period of time, injection sites soon develop into large sores, which only grow.  Gangrene, meningitis, and irreversible brain damage are common.  The life expectancy of a person once they use drops to two to three years.

Effects of krokodil eating the flesh of the user

When heroine users try to kick the habit they will experience withdrawal for 3-5 days.  Krokodil users face up to 30 days of physical and mental anguish.  While the drug seems to have exploded in Russia, it’s spreading throughout Europe.  Cases have been reported in Switzerland, Poland, the Czech Republic, Belgium, Germany, and several other countries.

Bad economies further the plight of addicts across the world.  In desperation, they turn to any means available to get their fix and not be sick.  The bath salt attacks here in the U.S. recently, and the effects of krokodil in Russia further the need to fund more rehabilitation programs.  Otherwise, a dystopian future populated with lethargic addicts walking around with their flash rotting of isn’t that far off.

 For more graphic effects of krokodil use, see the following videos:

Man's leg amputated/sawed in two. Gruesome.

 

Guy's nasty arm and girl's unbelieveable deterioration.

Not for the squeamish after the 5 minute mark.

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