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Flesh-Eating Drug Krokodil Found In U.S.

Shilpa Nagesh |
September 26, 2013 | 3:39 p.m. PDT

Executive Producer

(Creative Commons)
(Creative Commons)
A flesh-eating drug called Krokodil has made its way to the U.S, with two cases of drug use already found, according to the Poison Control Center in Arizona.

Originally discovered in Russia, Krokodil is a mixture of gasoline, oil and alcohol. Its effects are similar to heroin and is injected into the user's veins, but it's much cheaper to buy. 

Krokodil, real name desomorphine, is an opioid derivative of morphine. Like other opioids such as heroin, krokodil has a sedative and analgesic effect. Not only is it fast-acting, but the drug is eight to 10 times more potent than morphine, according to CBS News.

As a result, it causes the skin to feel rough, turn into a greenish color, and rot once the blood vessels rupture and die out.

Doctors like Dr. Ellen Marmur are stunned that such a drug has entered the U.S and has such a significant impact on the human body.

"This looks to me a lot like skin popping, what drug users used to do back in the day with heroin and other drugs," Marmur said. "It just kills the skin, that's what you're seeing, big dead pieces of skin."

To learn more about Krokodil and its origins, watch this video.

READ more about the Krokodil drug here.

Reach Shilpa Nagesh here and follow her on Twitter.



 

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