He Krokodil Is a recent illegal drug with serious effects on physical and mental health. It is the same substance as desomorphine, an opiate analogue invented in Russia in 1932.
Thus, while krokodil as a substance of abuse is a newly emerging drug, The substance itself was already designed several decades ago for therapeutic purposes.
Gangrene, one of the possible effects of krokodil.
Krokodil is a derivative of morphine, in which the 6-hydroxyl group is removed 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 potent 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 has recently been recreated for recreational purposes.
It is postulated that the effects of this substance as a recreational drug can be devastating to the consumer. The purpose of this article is to expose the properties, characteristics and effects of krokodil.
Features of Krokodil
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 one.
Also, the documentation about this drug indicates that the effects that causes its consumption are terrible and irreversible. In fact, some studies indicate that it could be the most addictive and harmful substance that has been globally connotated until today.
Its consumption extends to diverse regions of Europe, and its use is carried out mainly as substitute of the heroine.
Data from retrospective studies on krokodil indicate that drug addiction is not very durable, since regular users of krokodil usually do not live for more than two years.
Thus, krokodil is a synthetic opiate substance that acts at the brain level as a depressant. It has a high addictive potential and devastating effects for the body.
Synthesis of desomorphine
Desomorphine (the initial substance of krokodil) is an opiate analogue. It is derived from morphine and distinguished from morphine by the removal of the 6-hydroxyphenoxy group.
This modification of morphine was designed with the aim of increasing the effects of morphine and, therefore, to acquire a more potent drug in its sedative and analgesic effects.
On the other hand, the traditional synthesis of desomorphine is part of the alpha-chlorocodide, which is obtained by reacting thionyl chloride with codeine. These pharmacological characteristics motivate a new increase of the effects of the substance.
Finally, through catalytic reduction, alpha-chlorocodide produces dihydrodeoxycodone, which leads to the formation of desomorphine by de-methylation.
Thus, the end result of the desomorphine is reduced in a modification in the synthesis of morphine and codeine, which allows the elaboration of a more potent substance.
Synthesis of krokodil
Although 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 mainly explained by the scope of production of the two substances. While the desomorphine was made in scientific and controlled laboratories, krokodil is synthesized in contexts with very low degrees of control.
Krokodil is usually made in daily and amateur areas, so that apart from the elements contained in the desomorphine, it also often presents a large number of impurities.
It is customary for the krokodil to contain codeine residues, as well as particles of other accidentally produced synthetic opioids.
Likewise, a large part of the produced krokodil 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).
For example, tests on codeine pills sold in Russia have shown that these may contain ingredients such as caffeine, paracetamol or diphenhydramine.
This fact causes these substances to become directly part of the pharmacological composition of krokodil. Also, during the synthesis of these elements, other compounds can be generated as the tropicamide that also happens to comprise of its chemical structure.
For all this, krokodil is a highly potent and harmful drug because of its initial characteristics related to desamorphine. Likewise, it is even more harmful than this one due to the low control of its synthesis, which motivates the incorporation of other toxic substances for the organism.
Effects of krokodil
The consumption of krokodil produces high depressant effects on the central nervous system. In fact, several studies indicate 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.
- Slowness in brain function.
- Pulse and slow breathing.
- Decreased blood pressure.
- Bad concentration.
- Confusion.
- Incoordination of speech.
- Visual disturbances.
- Pupil dilation.
- Disorientation.
- Difficulty urinating.
- Addiction.
- Sedation.
- May cause gangrene and bleeding.
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 originated 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.
Thus, even though the depressant effects are even higher than those of morphine or heroin, they are in the background due to the immediate occurrence of adverse reactions due to the toxicity of the drug.
The consumption of krokodil causes the skin to change color and become flaky. Consumers' skin regions are covered with broken ulcers and blood vessels because of the toxicity that is caused in that area through injection.
These effects on the cutaneous region motivate the name of the drug (krokodil), since its consumption causes that the skin adopts a scaly form similar to the one of the crocodiles. However, these dramatic symptoms do not constitute the most serious effects of the substance.
The consumer's skin not only flakes, but also rots, also affecting the flesh until it reaches the bone. The drug causes severe damage to the tissues, causing fibritis and gangrene.
It is common practice that people who consume krokodil often require the amputation of different regions of their body. Also, the drug can cause infections in the bones, osteomyelitis in the jaw and the face, and sores and ulcers in the frete and in the skull.
The drug can also cause necrosis in the ears, nose and lips, as well as liver and kidney problems. On the other hand, the consumed krokodil accumulates in the veins, since it does not dissolve completely in the blood.
These accumulations in the blood vessels necrosan the tissues and spread to different regions of the organism, thus amplifying the damage originated.
Finally, the psychological effect of krokodil is usually ephemeral, lasting several hours less than those of heroin.
For this reason, addicts to this drug often require constant consumption and, therefore, experienced a greater number of negative consequences.
A potentially deadly drug
The high toxic effects caused by the consumption of krokodil cause a wide deterioration of the organism. In fact, several studies suggest that people who regularly consume krokodil usually do not live more than two years after the start of consumption.
According to Dr. Haro of CEU Universidad Cardenal Herrera de Castellón,"the initial manifestation of the first effects occur within a few days of the beginning of consumption and more frequently includes pneumonia, meningits, periodontits and osteomilitis."
These damages cause a progressive physical deterioration in the consumer, which ends up causing death in a large number of cases.
The first effects are usually perceived in the cutaneous regions. Subsequently, these gradually spread to all organs of the body.
Thus, it is argued that krokodil is a highly harmful drug that causes a rapid death in its consumers. 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.
Emergence of the drug krokodil
Desamorphine was synthesized in 1932. However, this substance as a drug of abuse, that is, krokodil, did not begin to be synthesized until the decade of 2000.
Its initial appearance occurred in Russia, place where also the"baptized"the drug with the name of krokodil.
At present, it is used as an alternative substance to heroin for two main reasons: because it is a drug easily achieved and because its market price is remarkably low.
In fact, most users who consume krokodil"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.
Thus, today there are no big illegal businesses that are dedicated to the design and commercialization of this drug. However, consumption of krokodil has experienced a marked increase over the last 15 years.
Its consumption is especially high in Russia, where it is estimated that 5% of drug users use krokodil as the main substance.
Likewise, its consumption has been extended by different regions of Europe and, in Spain, the first cases of consumption of krokodil have already been documented.
Preventing the consumption of krokodil
In the face of increasing consumption of this devastating drug, the National Center for Addiction Prevention and Control of the Ministry of Health has issued precise information about Krokodil.
The objective of such a prevention program is to alarm about the effects and consequences of the substance. As well as preventing young people from getting to use krokodil as a substance of abuse.
In this sense, and considering the high potential of the drug addiction, knowledge about the characteristics of krokodil and awareness of the consequences of its consumption, is a key element to prevent its consumption.
On the other hand, the Secretary of Health of the state of Veracruz has alerted the company through a communiqué dated April 8, 2014, issued by the social coordination of said unit.
Due to the irreversible effects and damages caused by the consumption of krokodil, it is essential that society is informed about its characteristics.
For this reason, many countries in Europe have already initiated prevention programs, based on information and awareness of the devastating consequences of their consumption.
Treatment of addiction to krokodil
Due to the recent occurrence of this drug, there are currently no interventions for the detoxification and treatment of krokodil dependence.
In addition, given the multiple physical consequences of the use of this substance, many of the therapeutic efforts are focused on the recovery and physical regeneration of patients.
The treatment of the medical complications of the consumption of krokodil requires, in the great majority of cases, extremely complex surgical interventions.
Likewise, these interventions usually conclude with serious results such as the removal or amputation of body regions.
On the other hand, many consumers of krokodil present pneumonias, meningitis or periodontits during the few days after the consumption, reason why the medical interventions also focus a great number of their efforts in the treatment of these complex pathologies caused by the drug.
References
- Casy, Alan F.; Parfitt, Robert T. (1986). Opioid analgesics: chemistry and receptors . New York: Plenum Press. P. 32.
- Eddy, Nathan B.; Howes, Homer A. (1935)"Studies of Morphine, Codeine and Their Derivatives X. Desoxymorphine-C, Desoxycodeine-C and Their Hydrogenated Derivatives." Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics 55 (3): 257-67.
- "A new drug of the poor, more lethal than the paco"[A new cheap drug, more dangerous than"pacoâ????]. The Three (Rosario) .
- "Consumption of oral krokodil in Spain: on the subject of a case", Addictions Magazine.
- Walker, Shaun (June 22, 2011) «Krokodil: The drug that eats junkies». The Independent .