The effects of the drug, Krokodil (Desomorphine)

In the years we have been involved in helping others overcome addiction, nothing prepared us for the horrors of a new drug Desomorphine, Street named “Krokodil”. The effects are permanent and it is said that this drug is worse than “TIK” (Crystal Meth).

It is a drug that causes your skin to rot and look scaly, like a crocodile’s, and the effects on the brain are even worse than the physical signs that people that have been using this deadly drug displays. Users mix codeine with a brew of poisons such as paint thinner, hydrochloric acid and red phosphorus scraped from the strike pads on matchboxes. The result—a murky yellow liquid with an acrid stink—mimics the effect of heroin at a fraction of the cost.

Wherever on the body a user injects the drug, blood vessels burst and surrounding tissue dies, sometimes falling off the bone in chunks. That side effect has earned krokodil its other nickname: the zombie drug. The typical life span of an addict is just two or three years.

One of our guys who has a TIK addiction, told us that he used Krokodil while outside. It started with continuous seizures, the medics on the ambulance declared him dead. They had to introduce shock therapy to bring him back to life. The results were scary. Spending many days in the hospital made him realize that he cannot go on living the life of an addict and returned home.

Sitting across from us was a 32-year-old man we didn’t recognise. Shaking uncontrollably due to shock to the brain, he explains that the pressure on his brain has become so terrifyingly strong that it is difficult for him to do hard work. He has to return to the hospital for an operation to mend the spot where the blood vessel burst in his brain.

‘My blood is not thickening, I cannot produce enough blood to keep from passing out.’ He said. ‘My nose keeps bleeding and for the first few days my body refused any food to stay inside.’

The horrors of this man, who came to us when he was still energised and full of life, is now a man who is sick, in constant pain due to swelling and the effects that this drug had on his body.

He has told us that now is the time to stop using drugs, he does not want to die like this.

So, please be warned by this man’s story – this drug, and any other drugs, can cause serious damage and even worse….death.