A flesh-eating drug known as “Krokodil” has been found in a few locations throughout the United States. The drug, which originated in Russia in the 1990s, is taken intravenously, and, after the high that is produced, the drug causes the skin to turn green and scaly, hence its name.
The drug is made in a similar way as heroin by mixing codeine with various substances to produce a mixture which is injected into the vein. Dr Frank LoVecchio from the Banner Good Samaritan Poison and Drug Information Center based in Arizona said that at least two cases of this skin condition have been reported in America.
He wouldn’t speak specifically about the condition of the two patients at this time due to confidentiality clauses. However, he told reporters that the discovery of these two cases has medical professionals “extremely frightened.”
“As far as I know, these are the first cases in the United States that are reported,” he said.
Like most grade-A drugs, Krokodil is appealing because it is easy and cheap to produce and offers the users an intense “high” for the duration of the drug’s effects.
Dr Aaron Skolnik, also from the Banner Information Center, said that medical authorities had hoped that the flesh-eating drug would not have found its way to the United States: “This is something we hoped would never make it to the U.S. because it’s so detrimental to the people who use it.”
In Russia, codeine is widely available over the counter. As a result, many people there are addicted to Krokodil. In 2010, as many as a million Russians were using the drug regularly.
Dr Ellen Marmur, a dermatologist at the Mount Sinai Medial Center in New York, told FoxNews.com back in 2011 that the effects of using the drug remind her of “skin popping”:
“This looks to me a lot like skin popping, what drug users used to do back in the day with heroin and other drugs. It just kills the skin, that’s what you’re seeing, big dead pieces of skin,” she said.
It remains to be seen whether the flesh-eating drug will become more popular in North America. It will then be for medical professionals and the police to ascertain the best way to minimise usage and control the substance as best they can.