The drug some officials say is as bad as or worse than heroin and methamphetamine has recently hit Athens County, local authorities said.
Athens County Sheriff Pat Kelly said his Narcotics Enforcement Team confirmed a case of desomorphine — perhaps more commonly known as Krokodil — in The Plains and Chauncey area Thursday.
Kelly said his team found a heroin dealer who told his detectives she was sold Krokodil. Within days, the woman, who Kelly would not name, had Krokodil-like symptoms on her skin that “began to turn a scaly, reptilian green around the area it was injected,” he said in a Facebook post.
Krokodil has been circulating in the media recently, with some outlets referring to it as a “flesh-eating zombie” drug, based on the devastating scale-like effects it can have on its users’ skin.
Although Kelly said he is “positive” the woman used the drug, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has not confirmed any cases of Krokodil in the United States.
“We’re not saying (Krokodil) is not out there, we’re just saying we haven’t seen it,” said Joseph Moses, special agent at the national drug administration’s headquarters in Washington.
He added that if a testing lab confirms the Athens County woman’s symptoms are related to desomorphine, it would be the first confirmed case in the U.S.
“Not to dismiss what (Sheriff Kelly) said, but a lot of people who are drug users can still get those lesions and the tissue going down to where the bone’s exposed just from consistent drug use,” Moses said. “For many cases, we thought we found (Krokodil) but it turned out to be heroin.”
In an interview earlier this month, Kelly said Krokodil — which can be manufactured from ingredients at home such as gasoline, paint thinner, alcohol, batteries and other substances — is not a concern for the region.
“Even the addicts and people involved in methamphetamine won’t get involved with this drug because of the outcome of it,” Kelly said.
Krokodil’s high is much stronger than that of heroin, Moses said. However, it is much shorter.
“It’s a nasty drug,” Moses said. “We don’t know if people are using it (in the U.S.), but it’s getting a lot of attention.”
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