Krokodil:
Deadly Drug May Be in United States The street drug Krokodil may have made its way to the United States from Russia, where it is a popular and less expensive alternative to heroin. News sources have
reported unconfirmed cases in Arizona, Chicago, and New York in the past few weeks. The life expectancy of someone who is a regular Krokodil user is 2-3 years.
The drug desomorphine is an opiate first developed in the 1930s. According to the
Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)’s fact sheet on desomorphine (PDF, 56 Kb), there
is no legal use for this drug today. This is another example of a drug that can be
cheaply and relatively easily made in a home lab, and instructional materials are
showing up on the internet.
Krokodil gets its name from its ability to eat away and rot a person from the inside by
destroying blood vessels at injection sites, leaving the skin scaly and green. Users
can die from gangrene, infection, and loss of skin. Amputations are common. The
drug may be 3-10 times cheaper than heroin in the United States and Russia, and
the DEA is concerned about its possible appearance here.
While the cases have not been confirmed, first responders should be aware of the
possibility of this drug being in the United States and familiarize themselves with the
signs, symptoms, and treatment.
(Source: NIH)
Deadly Drug May Be in United States The street drug Krokodil may have made its way to the United States from Russia, where it is a popular and less expensive alternative to heroin. News sources have
reported unconfirmed cases in Arizona, Chicago, and New York in the past few weeks. The life expectancy of someone who is a regular Krokodil user is 2-3 years.
The drug desomorphine is an opiate first developed in the 1930s. According to the
Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)’s fact sheet on desomorphine (PDF, 56 Kb), there
is no legal use for this drug today. This is another example of a drug that can be
cheaply and relatively easily made in a home lab, and instructional materials are
showing up on the internet.
Krokodil gets its name from its ability to eat away and rot a person from the inside by
destroying blood vessels at injection sites, leaving the skin scaly and green. Users
can die from gangrene, infection, and loss of skin. Amputations are common. The
drug may be 3-10 times cheaper than heroin in the United States and Russia, and
the DEA is concerned about its possible appearance here.
While the cases have not been confirmed, first responders should be aware of the
possibility of this drug being in the United States and familiarize themselves with the
signs, symptoms, and treatment.
(Source: NIH)
No comments:
Post a Comment