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Umbrella Was Here
Sep. 30th, 2013 06:53 pmSo in case you were having trouble with having to sleep all the time, and were spending the day wondering "I wonder if there's some way that I can stay up all night clutching at my blankets instead of sleeping", we now have the perfect solution. You will be happy to know that the "zombie drug" has now made it to the United States.
(Those of you wanting only happy news today may want to stop reading).
Apparently Krokodil, a cheaper but dirtier and much more dangerous alternative to heroin for the hard drug market, may now be in the United States. Originating in Russia, Krokodil is derived from codeine, which is fairly widely available, and can be produced in your kitchen. Unfortunately, because most people making drugs in their kitchens do not have access to expensive and precise chemicals, they tend to use common hydrocarbons, such as gasoline, for use as a solvent. The end result, which users inject into their body, is an impure mix with hydrochloric acid floating amid a variety of other toxic substances.
Over time, users begin to suffer necrosis as the toxic brew kills the flesh beneath the injection point, suffering from the effects of gangrene and the characteristic green, scaly appearance in the skin that caused Russians to name the drug after the crocodile. Of course that's before the flesh dies completely and sloughs off, in some cases going deep enough to reveal the bone. Yes, the user actually has their flesh rot and physically fall off their body. Not only that but some users also suffer motor coordination issues, leaving them stumbling around with impaired speech and walking ability while their flesh literally rots and falls off of their body. A horde of Krokodil users differs from a zombie apocalypse only by their inevitable mortality. It can only be hoped that the drug doesn't take root in the US, for the sake of possible users.
And if I'm not going to sleep well tonight, neither are you.
(If you really want sources, here's a rather old and tame article from Time on the drug in Russia. The US content comes from this probably NSFW article from Mother Jones. If you want to see real horrible images, then the article on io9 is a good start. This is something I do not recommend.)
(Those of you wanting only happy news today may want to stop reading).
Apparently Krokodil, a cheaper but dirtier and much more dangerous alternative to heroin for the hard drug market, may now be in the United States. Originating in Russia, Krokodil is derived from codeine, which is fairly widely available, and can be produced in your kitchen. Unfortunately, because most people making drugs in their kitchens do not have access to expensive and precise chemicals, they tend to use common hydrocarbons, such as gasoline, for use as a solvent. The end result, which users inject into their body, is an impure mix with hydrochloric acid floating amid a variety of other toxic substances.
Over time, users begin to suffer necrosis as the toxic brew kills the flesh beneath the injection point, suffering from the effects of gangrene and the characteristic green, scaly appearance in the skin that caused Russians to name the drug after the crocodile. Of course that's before the flesh dies completely and sloughs off, in some cases going deep enough to reveal the bone. Yes, the user actually has their flesh rot and physically fall off their body. Not only that but some users also suffer motor coordination issues, leaving them stumbling around with impaired speech and walking ability while their flesh literally rots and falls off of their body. A horde of Krokodil users differs from a zombie apocalypse only by their inevitable mortality. It can only be hoped that the drug doesn't take root in the US, for the sake of possible users.
And if I'm not going to sleep well tonight, neither are you.
(If you really want sources, here's a rather old and tame article from Time on the drug in Russia. The US content comes from this probably NSFW article from Mother Jones. If you want to see real horrible images, then the article on io9 is a good start. This is something I do not recommend.)
