Russia has more heroin users than any other country in the
world – up to two million, according to unofficial estimates. For most,
their lot is a life of crime, stints in prison, probable contraction of
HIV and hepatitis C, and an early death. As efforts to stem the flow of
Afghan heroin into Russia bring some limited success, and the street
price of the drug goes up, for those addicts who can't afford their next
hit, an even more terrifying spectre has raised its head.
The home-made drug that Oleg and Sasha inject is known as krokodil, or "crocodile". It is desomorphine, a synthetic opiate many times more powerful than heroin that is created from a complex chain of mixing and chemical reactions, which the addicts perform from memory several times a day. While heroin costs from £20 to £60 per dose, desomorphine can be "cooked" from codeine-based headache pills that cost £2 per pack, and other household ingredients available cheaply from the markets.
It is a drug for the poor, and its effects are horrific. It was given its reptilian name because its poisonous ingredients quickly turn the skin scaly. Worse follows. Oleg and Sasha have not been using for long, but Oleg has rotting sores on the back of his neck.
Following reports over the past month of cases of krokodil abuse in both Arizona and Chicago, Illinois, the drug is now believed to have hit New York.
The homemade concoction can be up to 10 times cheaper than heroin and is created by mixing codeine with gasoline or oil.
Severe cases like this one result in flesh rotting off the bone.
The drug is made of readily available ingredients such as codeine, iodine and toxins such as gasoline, industrial cleaning oil, lighter fluid and paint thinner. Users filter and boil ingredients together, then inject the drug.
The results are catastrophic.
Continual use of krokodil, Russian for crocodile, causes blood vessels to burst, leaving skin green and scaly and eventually causing gangrene.
In Russia around 30,000 people die from the affects of the drug every year. It is thought about
a quarter of a million people in the country are now hooked on the poison.
Addiction is spreading among young people and even those who manage to quit come away disfigured for life.
The home-made drug that Oleg and Sasha inject is known as krokodil, or "crocodile". It is desomorphine, a synthetic opiate many times more powerful than heroin that is created from a complex chain of mixing and chemical reactions, which the addicts perform from memory several times a day. While heroin costs from £20 to £60 per dose, desomorphine can be "cooked" from codeine-based headache pills that cost £2 per pack, and other household ingredients available cheaply from the markets.
It is a drug for the poor, and its effects are horrific. It was given its reptilian name because its poisonous ingredients quickly turn the skin scaly. Worse follows. Oleg and Sasha have not been using for long, but Oleg has rotting sores on the back of his neck.
- Krokodil is similar to heroin and originated in Russia 10 years ago
- Homemade concoction can be up to 10 times cheaper than heroin
- Continual use leads to blood vessels bursting and eventually causes the skin to rot
Following reports over the past month of cases of krokodil abuse in both Arizona and Chicago, Illinois, the drug is now believed to have hit New York.
The homemade concoction can be up to 10 times cheaper than heroin and is created by mixing codeine with gasoline or oil.
Severe cases like this one result in flesh rotting off the bone.
The drug is made of readily available ingredients such as codeine, iodine and toxins such as gasoline, industrial cleaning oil, lighter fluid and paint thinner. Users filter and boil ingredients together, then inject the drug.
The results are catastrophic.
Continual use of krokodil, Russian for crocodile, causes blood vessels to burst, leaving skin green and scaly and eventually causing gangrene.
In Russia around 30,000 people die from the affects of the drug every year. It is thought about
a quarter of a million people in the country are now hooked on the poison.
Addiction is spreading among young people and even those who manage to quit come away disfigured for life.
The
following photographs (of unknown origin) have been circulated with the
claim that they depict the severely damaging physical effects produced
in some krokodil users:
Read more at http://www.snopes.com/medical/drugs/krokodil.asp#ps6gpwscpjcKsDJO.99
Read more at http://www.snopes.com/medical/drugs/krokodil.asp#ps6gpwscpjcKsDJO.99
The
following photographs (of unknown origin) have been circulated with the
claim that they depict the severely damaging physical effects produced
in some krokodil users:
Read more at http://www.snopes.com/medical/drugs/krokodil.asp#ps6gpwscpjcKsDJO.99
Read more at http://www.snopes.com/medical/drugs/krokodil.asp#ps6gpwscpjcKsDJO.99
The
following photographs (of unknown origin) have been circulated with the
claim that they depict the severely damaging physical effects produced
in some krokodil users:
Read more at http://www.snopes.com/medical/drugs/krokodil.asp#ps6gpwscpjcKsDJO.99
Read more at http://www.snopes.com/medical/drugs/krokodil.asp#ps6gpwscpjcKsDJO.99
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