The krokodil It is a recently released illegal drug with serious effects on physical and mental health. It is the same substance as desomorphine, an opiate analog invented in Russia in 1932. Thus, while krokodil as a substance of abuse is a recent drug, the substance itself was already designed several decades ago for purposes therapeutic.
Krokodil is a derivative of morphine, in which the 6-hydroxyl group is eliminated and the double bond of the substance is reduced. Its consumption provides very high sedative and analgesic effects. Specifically, it is considered that its sedative effects could be between 8 and 10 times more powerful than those of morphine.
Thus, krokodil is a depressant drug that was initially designed as an analgesic tool against pain. However, its medicinal use was disapproved years after its synthesis, and it has recently been re-elaborated for recreational purposes. Its effects on a physical and mental level can be devastating.
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Currently, it is used as an alternative to heroin for two main reasons: because it is an easily available drug and because its market price is remarkably low.
In fact, most krokodil users “make” the drug themselves in their own homes. Codeine tablets are substances that can be easily obtained without a prescription, and the synthesis of the drug is simple, which is why it is so cheap.
Today there are no large illegal businesses that are dedicated to the design and marketing of this drug. However, the consumption of krokodil has experienced a notable increase during the last 15 years.
Its consumption is especially high in Russia, where it is estimated that 5% of drug addicts use krokodil as the main substance. Likewise, its consumption has spread to different regions of Europe.
Krokodil is a synthetic drug that is made from opiates. It is a substance highly similar to heroin, although it has been established that it has effects up to ten times more intense than this.
Likewise, the documentation about this drug indicates that the effects caused by its consumption are terrible and irreversible. In fact, some studies indicate that it could be the most addictive and harmful substance that has been known worldwide to date.
Its consumption is spread over various regions of Europe, and its use is carried out mainly as a substitute for heroin.
Data from retrospective studies on krokodil indicate that addiction to the drug is not very long-lasting, since regular users of this substance do not usually live for more than two years.
Therefore, krokodil is a synthetic opiate substance that acts as a depressant in the brain. It has a high addictive potential and devastating effects on the body.
Despite the fact that krokodil and desomorphine refer to the same substance, made at different times and for different purposes, both drugs do not have exactly the same pharmacological characteristics..
This fact is explained mainly through the scope of production of the two substances. While desomorphine was made in scientific and controlled laboratories, krokodil is synthesized in contexts with little control.
Krokodil is usually made in everyday and amateur settings, so apart from the elements that desomorphine contains, it also usually has a large number of impurities.
It is common for krokodil to contain traces of codeine, as well as particles of other synthetic opioids produced accidentally.
Likewise, a large part of the krokodil produced also contains other drugs obtained as unwanted by-products of the reaction generated on the excipients or accompanying substances of the product used as raw material (codeine tablets).
The consumption of krokodil produces high depressant effects on the central nervous system. In fact, several studies suggest that this substance would be the one that manages to produce a higher depressant effect.
As a consequence of the depressant effect of the substance, krokodil can cause a large number of symptoms. The most typical are usually:
However, the direct effects of the drug are not the most devastating consequences of krokodil. In this sense, a great variety of physical and mental alterations caused by the consumption of this substance have been documented. In fact, the main effects of krokodil have to do with the toxic properties of the substance.
Although the depressant effects are even higher than those of morphine or heroin, these take a back seat due to the immediate appearance of adverse reactions motivated by the toxicity of the drug.
Consuming krokodil causes the skin to change color and become scaly. The skin regions of consumers are covered with ulcers and broken blood vessels due to the toxicity that is caused in that area through the injection.
These effects on the skin region motivate the name of the drug (krokodil), since its consumption causes the skin to adopt a scaly shape similar to that of crocodiles. However, these dramatic symptoms are not the most serious effects of the substance either..
The consumer's skin not only flakes, but rots, also affecting the meat down to the bone. The drug causes very serious tissue damage, causing fibitis and gangrene.
It is common for people who use krokodil to frequently require the amputation of different regions of their body. Likewise, the drug can cause bone infections, osteomyelitis in the jaw and face, and sores and ulcers on the forehead and skull..
The drug can also cause necrosis of the ears, nose, and lips, as well as liver and kidney problems. On the other hand, the krokodil consumed accumulates in the veins, since it cannot dissolve completely in the blood..
These accumulations in the blood vessels necrotize the tissues and spread to different regions of the body, thus expanding the damage caused.
Finally, the psychological effect of krokodil is usually short-lived, lasting several hours less than that of heroin..
For this reason, addicts to this drug usually need to consume it constantly and, therefore, experience an increasing number of negative consequences.
The high toxic effects caused by the consumption of krokodil motivate a wide deterioration of the organism. In fact, several studies indicate that people who regularly consume krokodil do not usually live more than two years after the start of use.
According to Dr. Haro from the CEU Cardenal Herrera University of Castellón, "the initial manifestation of the first effects occurs a few days after consumption begins and more often includes pneumonia, meningitis, periodontitis and osteomillitis".
These damages cause a progressive physical deterioration in the consumer, which ends up causing death in a high number of cases..
The first effects are usually perceived in the skin regions. Subsequently, these gradually spread to all the organs of the body.
Krokodil is claimed to be a highly harmful drug that causes rapid death in its users. Although there are still no conclusive studies, there are authors who postulate that it could be the most addictive and harmful drug in the world.
Given the increase in consumption of this devastating drug, the National Center for the Prevention and Control of Addictions of the Ministry of Health, has issued precise information about Krokodil.
The objective of this prevention program is to raise alarms about the effects and consequences of the substance. As well as preventing young people from consuming krokodil as a substance of abuse.
In this sense, and taking into account the high addictive potential of the drug, knowledge about the characteristics of krokodil and awareness about the consequences of its use, is a key element for the prevention of its use.
Due to the effects and irreversible damages caused by the consumption of krokodil, it is essential that society is informed about its characteristics.
For this reason, many European countries have already started prevention programs, based on information and awareness about the devastating consequences of its use..
Due to the recent appearance of this drug, at present there are still no interventions aimed at detoxification and the treatment of krokodil dependence.
In addition, considering the multiple physical consequences that the consumption of this substance entails, many of the therapeutic efforts focus on the recovery and physical regeneration of patients..
Treatment of the medical complications of krokodil use requires, in the vast majority of cases, extremely complex surgical interventions. Likewise, these interventions usually end with serious results such as the extirpation or amputation of body regions.
On the other hand, many krokodil users have pneumonia, meningitis or periodontitis during the few days after consumption, so medical interventions also focus a large number of their efforts on the treatment of these complex pathologies caused by the drug..
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