Beware: Flesh Rotting Street Drug "Krokodil"

Krokodil Drug - May Have Come From Russia to the US 

Over a year ago the nation was shocked by the synthetic drug known as bath salts that was suspected in a horrific act of violence in Miami, Florida. Since then there have been national crackdowns on head shops and gas stations that sold the synthetic drug and news reports of it have dwindled. Last week a new drug, that proves just as, if not more, horrifying than bath salts may have hit the streets in the US. 

The drug is called “krokodil” because it causes users to break out in scaly sores like a crocodile. These sores aren’t a result of picking, as with meth addicts but from contaminants in the drug that cause human flesh to rot, much like gangrene. The drug has been on the streets of Russia and authorities hoped it wouldn’t find its way to the US - but it may have. The Banner Good Samaritan Poison Control Center in Phoenix, Arizona got wind from physicians about symptoms in their emergency rooms that were consistent with the IV use of krokodil - although toxicology reports have yet to confirm this.

These reports were taken seriously on a national level because emerging drugs are often first seen by physicians that treat the symptoms. Reportedly two addicts arrived in a Phoenix area hospital with exposed bone and flesh hanging off their bodies. Accordingly, news reports about krokodil that followed bear a resemblance to those about bath salts a year ago - with headlines like "Zombie Apocalypse Drug Reaches US: This Is Not a Joke" and "The Most Horrifying Drug in the World Comes to the US.”

Given the drug's horrific effects that often require amputations, people are left wondering what the appeal of it is and why people would even try it in the first place. In Russia alone up to 1 million people are estimated to use it according to New York's Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services. The appeal in Russia is that the drug mimics the effects of opiates but is 3 times cheaper than heroin and can be made with household products.

The DEA currently believes reports are just anecdotal because other reports of krokodil over the past few years were never confirmed, according to agency spokesman Rusty Payne. We hope they are just anecdotal and the public stays safe and aware - especially educating loved ones about the effects of krokodil and urging them not to experiment with any new drugs. Although impending amputation is enough of a deterrent to dissuade most, some addicts who are heavy in their addictions are most liable to become victims.

9 DUI Fatalities over Labor Day in Colorado

Photo via CDOT

Back in January, Harmony Foundation wrote a blog about the number of impaired driving arrests over the New Year. We hoped that that news of arrests would've served as a deterrent throughout the state, but it seems numbers were even higher during the recent Labor Day enforcement period between August 16th and September 3rd.

During this time period, known to be a heavy party time as people say goodbye to summer, there were a total of 1,342 arrests and 9 impaired driving related deaths. This was reported by the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) and the Colorado State Police who have joined together to create a campaign called The Heat is On to crackdown on drunk driving.

According to the Director of the Office of Transportation Safety at CDOT, Darrell Lingk, “The Labor Day crackdown is one of the annual enforcement periods where we see significant increases in impaired driving arrests.” The increase in arrests was possible through the collaboration of 100 law enforcement agengies and extra enforcement workers on the beat looking for impaired drivers.

The Heat is On campaign also turned the classic “don’t drink and drive” slogan on its head and created the tagline “Drink, and don’t drive” to grab the attention of Coloradans in August via mobile billboards that were poised in populated places like Colorado Rockies games and Tour de Fat in Forte Collins. In addition, they implemented the Interactive Urinal Communicator at select bars that encouraged men at the urinal (in a 15 second automated message) to take a taxi over driving impaired.

The campaign is set to continue with the same extra assertion of efforts and enforcement during 12 time periods throughout the year. The next vamp up is scheduled for the Holiday Season. Unfortunately the arrests and the innovative campaign strategies weren’t enough to prevent the tragic 9  DUI related fatalities. Harmony Foundation gives our condolences as our hearts go out to the victims and their friends and families.

As we stated in January, we support all statewide efforts to crackdown on driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs - including marijuana and prescription medications. In our addiction treatment practice we find that a large percentage of those arrested for DUI have underlying alcohol or drug dependency issues that we effectively treat here at Harmony Foundation. We encourage those who have been arrested or those likely to be arrested for DUI to seek treatment to help themselves, and the public writ large, stay safe.

Opioid Toolkit in time for Overdose Awareness Day

Saturday was International Overdose Awareness Day, which memorializes those who have died or have sustained a permanent injury resulting from an overdose. In addition, it aims to condole the grief of families and friends of overdose victims while promoting addiction treatment and educating the public that overdoses are preventable. This takes place on August 31st each year and was created by Sally Finn of Melbourne, Australia in 2001. At the time Finn was the manager of a Salvation Army syringe program and saw the need for an outlet for the friends and families of those who had overdosed.

This day came just after the White House hosted a media briefing to look at overdose trends in the US and reveal their new “opioid toolkit” that strives to reduce the volume of opioid overdoses and educate public servants and the public. 


The opioid toolkit is free and equips communities and local governments - such as first responders, treatment providers with resources that help them create policies and practices to prevent opioid overdoses and deaths.

Both International Overdose Awareness Day and the White House briefing are thoughtful responses to a real epidemic. Here are some statistics that paint the picture of overdose in the US by the CDC and the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians respectively:

• Drug overdose was responsible for 38,329 deaths in the US in 2010. US overdose deaths have increased for 11 successive years. In 2010, and for the third year in a row, the number of US citizens whose deaths were drug related exceeded the number of fatalities in road traffic accidents (32,885). Opioid analgesic overdoses have claimed 125,000 US lives in the last decade.

• In 2012 the number-one cause of death in 17 US states was prescription drug abuse, and that figure surpassed the number of fatalities caused by motor vehicle accidents.

Harmony Foundation treats those suffering from addiction to drugs and alcohol. We are located in Estes Park, Colorado and help high risk addicts - such as those addicted to heroin or prescription pills - learn how to live life drug free.