Krokodil: Signing Your Own Death
Christian Cervantes
Krokodil
Krokodil is a drug that is mostly sold in Russia. According to unofficial estimates, Russia is the country with the highest amount of heroin addicts; approximately two million. However, not everyone can afford this drug. Krokodil is a drug more powerful and more destructive than heroin and it is also a lot cheaper. Whereas heroin may cost $150 US and up per use, Krokodil can be obtained for $6-$8 US per injection.
So what is Krokodil? It is home made and pretty much anyone can cook it. This drug is pretty much codeine turned into desomorphine by a relatively easy process of cooking. Codeine is narcotic found at any pharmacy. The problem with the desomorphine is that it has to be made by professionals in a special facility or laboratory to be perfectly pure. So these random citizens trying to perform this at home are going to use home products to turn the codeine into desomorphine, which is the cause of why the results after consuming this drug is so destructive. People use gasoline as a solvent, red phosphorus; which we find on average matches, iodine and hydrochloric acid, which is a highly corrosive substance, found naturally in gastric acid, it also balances the pH level of acidity which is why it is used in swimming pool treatment solutions, making it easy to purchase at specialized supermarkets.
What does this drug do to you? The corrosive acids will eventually turn the skin greenish with a rough texture, which is why this drug is called Krokodil. The skin around the injection site is the first to gain this appearance and becomes an easy target for gangrene. The skin literally becomes rotten and, in time, it ends up sloughing off, exposing the bone. Victor Ivanov, the head of Russia’s Drug Control Agency, estimates that five percent of drug users in Russia are consuming Krokodil and other equally dangerous home made drugs. Heroin alone kills around 300 thousand people in Russia every year, but Krokodil brings a much
Krokodil
Krokodil is a drug that is mostly sold in Russia. According to unofficial estimates, Russia is the country with the highest amount of heroin addicts; approximately two million. However, not everyone can afford this drug. Krokodil is a drug more powerful and more destructive than heroin and it is also a lot cheaper. Whereas heroin may cost $150 US and up per use, Krokodil can be obtained for $6-$8 US per injection.
So what is Krokodil? It is home made and pretty much anyone can cook it. This drug is pretty much codeine turned into desomorphine by a relatively easy process of cooking. Codeine is narcotic found at any pharmacy. The problem with the desomorphine is that it has to be made by professionals in a special facility or laboratory to be perfectly pure. So these random citizens trying to perform this at home are going to use home products to turn the codeine into desomorphine, which is the cause of why the results after consuming this drug is so destructive. People use gasoline as a solvent, red phosphorus; which we find on average matches, iodine and hydrochloric acid, which is a highly corrosive substance, found naturally in gastric acid, it also balances the pH level of acidity which is why it is used in swimming pool treatment solutions, making it easy to purchase at specialized supermarkets.
What does this drug do to you? The corrosive acids will eventually turn the skin greenish with a rough texture, which is why this drug is called Krokodil. The skin around the injection site is the first to gain this appearance and becomes an easy target for gangrene. The skin literally becomes rotten and, in time, it ends up sloughing off, exposing the bone. Victor Ivanov, the head of Russia’s Drug Control Agency, estimates that five percent of drug users in Russia are consuming Krokodil and other equally dangerous home made drugs. Heroin alone kills around 300 thousand people in Russia every year, but Krokodil brings a much