Krokodil and the War on Drugs

by Gerard Emershaw

It produces a high similar to heroin, but it is much cheaper to produce. Krokodil—known more formally as desomorphine—is produced by mixing codeine with substances like gasoline, paint thinner, oil, alcohol, hydrochloric acid, or iodine. The drug gets its nickname from the hideous effects that its use produces at the site of injection:

The drug's sinister moniker—also known as crocodile—refers to the greenish and scaly appearance of a user's skin at the site of injection as blood vessels rupture and cause surrounding tissues to die.

The flesh-eating Krokodil first began being used significantly in Russia in 2002 and grew to an epidemic. By 2010, up to a million Russians were injecting desomorphine into their veins.

The first reported cases of Krokodil use in the United States have emerged in Arizona. Frank LoVecchio, the co-medical director at the Banner Good Samaritan Poison & Drug Information Center, has reported seeing two cases during the past week.

Any time that the media reports on a new drug craze, it inevitably sparks hysteria in suburban America. From ecstasy to bath salts to the dubious I-dosing, the American media loves nothing more than to frighten George and Martha on Main Street, USA by making them believe that their precious children Ashley and Dylan might soon fall prey to the latest version of Reefer Madness.

If and when Krokodil or some other new mind altering and potentially dangerous substance does catch on in the United States, blowhards will again be calling for renewed effort in the War on Drugs. However, the most dangerous drugs exist and become popular because drugs are illegal. The illegality of drugs makes them more expensive. This is because in addition to the costs of producing and delivering the substances, there are the addition costs attributed to the risk. Thus, cheap and ultra-dangerous drugs like Krokodil develop a market because they are affordable alternatives to expensive drugs like heroin. While draconian “sin” taxes on alcohol, cigarettes, chewing tobacco, etc. have been causing the prices on such products to skyrocket, when left to the free market, these things tend to be reasonably priced. This is because legal competition is widespread and not having to evade law enforcement and not having to gun it out with rival drug gangs lowers production costs.

When consumers have their choice within a free market of legal mind altering substances, they tend to choose safer and milder versions. For example, in the United States, the best selling beer is Bud Light. Bud Light is only 3.88% alcohol. American imbibers could easily choose 190 proof Everclear over Bud Light, but they simply prefer to sip a mild beer rather than guzzle grain alcohol. If drugs were legal in the United States, it is likely that a mild brand of morphine would become far more popular than heroin or Krokodil. If Russians had had wide access to inexpensive forms of morphine, then Krokodil would never have become popular in the first place. Because alcohol is legal and affordable in the United States, moonshine is not very popular. Likewise, if drugs were legal, there would be little fear that new and dangerous drugs would catch on with users. If and when Ashley and Dylan are strung out on Krokodil and their flesh begins to rot, George and Martha can thank the War on Drugs for it.