‘FLESH-ROTTING’ DRUG AND THE RISKS TO WALES
GET a few household products – such as gasoline and paint thinner – cook them up and, in less than an hour, you get moonshine heroin: krokodil. The drug gets its name because of the dramatic effects it has on the skin, including scaly skin, sores and infections, and it has recently hit the headlines, with several national newspapers reporting it has hit the UK and calling it a “flesh-rotting drug”.
It has been described as “one of the worst drugs in the UK”, with symptoms sounding like something straight out of a horror film. Time Magazine branded it “the world’s deadliest drug”.
At the moment, krokodil is mainly a problem in Russia due to an increase in price of heroin in the country and, back in 2013, Stacey Dooley made a short documentary on the drug for BBC Three called Cooking Up Crocodile.
In the documentary, the journalist speaks to two drug addicts who take the homemade drug, with one saying he has heard your life expectancy is two years after starting to take krokodil. However, he says he isn’t afraid to die.
Myth and rumour surround this drug and, in the past, samples have been sent to the Welsh Emerging Drugs and Identification of Novel Substances Project (WEDINOS) branded as “krokodil”.
Krokodil usually refers to homemade desomorphine (an opioid derivative of codeine) and, in 2014, the WEDINOS project received three samples labelled as such. One from Blaenau Gwent, one from Neath and one from Newport.
In their October to December 2014 bulletin, they said, in all the substances sent to WEDINOS, there was no evidence of krokodil, or any other opioid derivative. In all three cases, the main psychoactive substance was a stimulant.
Speaking to experts – police, health boards, homeless charities and drug agencies – they all said the deadly drug isn’t in Wales because, putting it bluntly, good quality heroin is cheap and easy to find. There is no need for drug users to cook up their own drug.
However, this week a court heard the tragic effects of krokodil and other Class A substances on one Gloucester woman. The hearing was told she had “horrific” open sores and a blood infection caused by large ulcers on an arm.
Rob Barker, training coordinator for Swansea-based drug and alcohol agency, said: “As far as I am aware, there have been no confirmed reports of krokodil either in Wales or the UK.
“There isn’t a need for it here because the heroin people can source isn’t bad. The cost is quite affordable too – £10 per bag.
“Despite reports, the only known cases of the substance seem to be in eastern Europe, especially in Siberia.
“The main reason for Siberia and to a certain extent, other parts of Russia, being the main areas for reports of this substance is due to the high prices of heroin in those locations.”
Mr Barker said Russia is number one in the world in relation to heroin use, which goes back to the 1970s, but the price of heroin has significantly increased in the country over the last few years. This has led to a small pocket of opiate users unable to afford heroin, resulting in them either cooking up and using or just buying krokodil.
Martin Blakebrough, CEO of Newport-based drug and alcohol agency Kaleidoscope, agreed, adding all the evidence suggests that people do not look for alternatives to a drug they can easily get such as heroin.
Mr Blakebrough said krokodil has only become an issue in Russia where the heroin market has been disrupted and users find it difficult to access the drug. The problem with trying to regulate or clamp down on drugs is that people may switch to other alternatives, he added; for example, they may move from cannabis to spice.
He said: “Control is important but it doesn’t always give the results that you want. It can be positive and you see a reduction in the drug use, but it can also make the situation worse.
“It was the same with alcohol – when it was prohibited, some turned to moonshine, which is unregulated and causes a lot more damage.
“I would say krokodil is an argument for decriminalisation – it is an example of prohibition going wrong.”
After starting to use krokodil, users have a life expectancy of about a year,