Krokodil - New drug rots skin and bones! (Warning: Graphic Footage)

Krokodil is the street name in Russia for home-made desomorphine (крокодил, crocodile), reportedly due to the scale-like appearance of skin of its users and the derivation from chlorocodide.

Desomorphine (dihydrodesoxymorphine, Permonid) is an opiate analogue invented in 1932 in the United States that is a derivative of morphine, where the 6-hydroxyl group has been removed and the 7,8 double bond has been reduced.[1] It has sedative and analgesic effects, and is around 8-10 times more potent than morphine. It was used in Switzerland under the brand name Permonid, and was described as having a fast onset and a short duration of action, with relatively little nausea or respiratory depression compared to equivalent doses of morphine. The traditional synthesis of desomorphine starts from α-chlorocodide, which is itself obtained by reacting thionyl chloride with codeine. By catalytic reduction, α-chlorocodide gives dihydrodesoxycodeine, which yields desomorphine on demethylation.

Desomorphine attracted attention in 2010 in Russia due to an increase in clandestine production, presumably due to its relatively simple synthesis from codeine. The drug is easily made from codeine, iodine and red phosphorus, in a process similar to the manufacture of methamphetamine from pseudoephedrine, but desomorphine made this way is highly impure and contaminated with various toxic and corrosive byproducts.

Due to difficulties in procuring heroin combined with easy and cheap access to over-the-counter pharmacy products containing codeine in Russia, use of "krokodil" has been on the increase. Since the home-made mix is routinely injected immediately with little or no further purification, "krokodil" has become notorious for producing severe tissue damage, phlebitis and gangrene, sometimes requiring limb amputation in long-term users. The amount of tissue damage is so high that addicts' life expectancies are said to be as low as two to three years.

Abuse of home-made desomorphine was first reported in Middle and eastern Siberia in 2002, but has since spread throughout Russia and the neighboring former Soviet republics. In October 2011, indications of "krokodil" use were found in Germany, with some media outlets claiming several dead users.