First Cases of Flesh-Eating Drug Emerge In the United States 618
Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes "Having spent the last decade wreaking havoc in Russia, a flesh-eating drug called Krokodil has arrived in Arizona, reports Eliza Gray at Time Magazine. The Banner Poison Control Center has reported the first two users of the drug which makes user's skin scaly and green before it rots away [Warning: Graphic Images]. Made of codeine, a painkiller often used in cough syrup, and a mix of other materials including gasoline, paint thinner, and alcohol, Krokodil become popular in Russia because it costs 20 times less than heroin and can be made easily at home. Also known as Desomorphine, Krokodil has sedative and analgesic effects, and is around 8-10 times more potent than morphine. When the drug is injected, it rots the skin by rupturing blood vessels, causing the tissue to die. As a result, the skin hardens and rots, sometimes even falling off to expose the bone. 'These people are the ultimate in self-destructive drug addiction,' says Dr. Ellen Marmur. 'Once you are an addict at this level, any rational thinking doesn't apply.' The average life span of a Krokodil user is two to three years, according to a 2011 TIME investigation of the drug's prevalence in Russia."
Re:media inaccuracy (Score:2, Interesting)
Why do I keep seeing people referring to Mad Men? Are you sure you don't mean Breaking Bad? Then again I don't have a TV or a Netflix account so what the fuck do I know....
Insite - a Success Story (Score:5, Interesting)
The premise of Insite is simple: provide a clean, safe place for addicts to shoot up, under medical supervision. Insite doesn't provide drugs, but at least it offers some kind of controlled environment for injection.
The upshot is ten years of servicing addicts, and not one death. It Just Works.
Of course our law 'n' order neo-con Harper government is determined to shut it down, crying "Think of The Children" while pocketing donations from the big US private prison companies...
Re:Gross, but... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Natural selection (Score:5, Interesting)
Based on what's happened to people I know, especially to one close friend who was very gifted, I can tell you that anyone can lose their way or be forced off the path.
In my opinion, those who possess rare mental or creative gifts seem to be much more susceptible.
Horrifying as the images of Krokodil images are, it's really a testament to the destructive power of addiction.
It's easy to theorize that this is just winnowing out the useless but that ignores so much history where talented and wealthy individuals have destroyed their lives through addiction.
Regardless of how superior you believe yourself to be, these people need help and compassion; not to be marginalized as convenient practitioners of auto-eugenics.
Re:Solution (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Gross, but... (Score:5, Interesting)
Poor, crazy Amy Winehouse being the perfect example of what you mean there. Her death is what clued me into the fact that alcohol withdrawal can be life threatening. Say what you will about her antics, but I would still take her music over what has come out of the pop scene this year. No question.
But newly hearing about Krokodil today has my cynic badge revoked. I haven't been shocked by something in the news for a very long time. Appalled, yeah, of course. Truly shocked? Krokodil accomplished that today.
Using Meth or Crack as a shorthand for drug addled will soon be overtaken by the word "Krok".
I'm a military guy, but after seeing the pictures of this and that Vice documentary listed below, just...
Oh my God
Re:Gross, but... (Score:4, Interesting)
A German court actually once finally settled the question why alcohol is legal and other drugs ain't. Their explanatory statement: Alcohol is not primarily consumed for its intoxicating qualities.
Well, I pondered this at length in the presence of a few beer and the next day it hit me like lightning: No, I don't get drunk for the buzz, it's for that great head I have the next day...
Re:Gross, but... (Score:5, Interesting)
Various reasons. First and foremost, of course, financial ones. Manufacturers of legal drugs are of course not interested in sharing their market. And here you have three very powerful lobbies against you: Alcohol, Tobacco and (no, not Firearms) Pharma. The first two obviously have no interest in you having access to cheap and easy replacements for their drugs, especially ones you can produce far more easily than you could produce your own tobacco or alcohol. Pharma's spiel here is even more insidious.
Their big problem is that, especially during the 50s and 60s, a lot of very potent and very useful psychotropics have been discovered. Actually, the "best" drugs have been designed and manufactured then. The stuff that could literally save lots of people today from their psychological problems, from anxiety to depression. And while we might think that it's awesome that these drugs are "perfect", they have a fatal flaw from the point of view of a pharma corp: Their patent expired.
Now, how can you compete with a "perfect" drug? How could you market something that is inferior but patentable against something that is better but could be made by anyone. Hell, could be made with trivially available equipment to the average amateur chemist? Answer: You cannot. Without the aid of the law, that is.
There are quite a few very potent and very useful SSRAs, SNRAs and other releasing agents out there that are, from a health point of view, at least as safe as many of the contemporary SSRIs and SNRIs while also having the advantage of actually doing something for the patient... but they're invariable Schedule I/Class A.
You can actually check for yourself, simply follow the timing of drug law changes and patent expiration. It's quite ... interesting.