Quote:

Desomorphine is a derivative of morphine first synthesized in the US in the early 1930s.  Originally viewed as a potential alternative to morphine, the compound was found to have a significantly shorter half life (the effects last four hours at the most), and so was for the most part neglected by the medical community.  Recently though, desomorphine, nicknamed “crocodile,” has become popular in Russia, where it is manufactured (very cheaply) with over-the-counter codeine in a reaction similar to that used for cooking meth.  The results are apparently rather gruesome:

    A number of chemical substances are used in the homemade production of desomorphine. These include industrial acids, alkalis, and organic solvents (petrol, etc.). In most cases industrial quality chemicals are used, rather than purified forms intended for consumption.

    This mixture of compounds, used in the process of making desomorphine, and not filtered out later, often contains high concentrations of iodine, which disrupts the endocrine system and causes muscular disorders; phosphorus, which attacks bone tissue; and dangerous admixtures of heavy metals such as iron, zinc, lead and antimony, which cause disorders of the nervous system, mineral imbalances, and inflammation of the liver and kidneys.

    Drug addiction often follows the first dose. Desomorphine users suffer from an acute deterioration in their general health, including a weakened immune system and failing liver. Their circulation is so effected that their limbs gradually wither and die. Non-healing ulcers appear on the body and a person literally rots alive. Veins located near the injection sites “burn up.”

This information is coming from the Russian state media, so it should be taken with a proper degree of wariness. There is, however, no doubt that homemade/crudely manufactured pharmaceuticals are often less than safe, and this situation is not unique to Russia; the majority of heroin overdoses in the United States are a result of reckless/malicious cuts such a fentanyl, and any street dose is liable to contain unwanted chemicals that are best not put into veins.

If heroin and other such narcotics were legally available there would be little more risk of overdose than with any other legal drug (and significantly less than with alcohol).  The state would not be faced with horrible drug epidemics, hospitals would not devote mass resources to treating overdoses and addictions, and no one would have to worry about their limbs rotting off.

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has anyone ever heard of this shit? basically its a crude form of desomorphine that is cooked using red phos/iodine and OTC codeine pills you can buy in russia for like 5$, they then cook it down in this dirty brown/black liquid, then inject it for a 30 second rush. but basically they dont filter it or do anything to it after cooking it, so they ultimately end up injecting iodines, phos, heavy metals, all sorts of nasty shit and they begin to rot inside out. immune system basically stop and people lose all there limbs in the most graphically horrible way.

another video all in russian but defintely worth watching
http://www.rian.ru/video/20100423/225860005.html

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xajhtm_tianeptine-drug-users_news

just absurd, idk what to say. I was totally unaware of such nonsense.

I thought I would pub this as it is wildly graphic and a horrible reality I was totally unaware of.

Belac said:

Those pics are strait nasty

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2Cents said:

Now if real drugs went so hard to find would this be happeing?....

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No man, we just have to make more stuff illegal! 

Quote:

Desomorphine is a synthetically derived morphine isomer (the outdated version of the name is morphine). It was originally derived during the search for morphine substitutes. Desomorphine has not been widely used in medicine.

At the beginning of the 20th century, U.S. scientists attempted to derive new morphine-based medicines with a strong analgesic effect that do not cause chemical dependence. As a result, scientists settled on several pharmacologically active substances, of which desomorphine and methadone were the most promising.

Animal trials of desomorphine showed that, by comparison with morphine, its analgesic effect was stronger and more rapid. It was later found, however, that the effect lasted on average about four hours, causing a quicker addiction. For this very reason, desomorphine has not found a practical application as an analgesic.

Desomorphine was briefly used abroad as a postoperative analgesic. It was available in the form of hydrobromic acid salt under the name of Permonid, produced by Roche.

Recent years have seen a renewed interest in desomorphine as a narcotic. Its effect is very similar to that of heroin. Both substances cause the same strong dependence and lead to an irreversible destruction of the organism.

Desomorphine first appeared on the Russian market in 2003. Recently, there has been an epidemiological increase in the number of drug addicts, mostly young people, using this unconventional drug.

The main reason for desomorphine’s appearance and spread is the simplicity and accessibility of its preparation. Due to the relatively cheap, quick, and very crude preparation equipment needed in home industry, the drug is fairly inexpensive. Desomorphine is not available as a medicine. It is derived from a haphazard mix of codeine-based medications and household chemicals. In Russia, most codeine-based medicines are available without prescription, making it quite easy to produce desomorphine at home.

The result is a "dirty", and consequently a highly dangerous, drug. A number of chemical substances are used in the homemade production of desomorphine. These include industrial acids, alkalis, and organic solvents (petrol, etc.). In most cases industrial quality chemicals are used, rather than purified forms intended for consumption.

This mixture of compounds, used in the process of making desomorphine, and not filtered out later, often contains high concentrations of iodine, which disrupts the endocrine system and causes muscular disorders; phosphorus, which attacks bone tissue; and dangerous admixtures of heavy metals such as iron, zinc, lead and antimony, which cause disorders of the nervous system, mineral imbalances, and inflammation of the liver and kidneys.

Drug addiction often follows the first dose. Desomorphine users suffer from an acute deterioration in their general health, including a weakened immune system and failing liver. Their circulation is so effected that their limbs gradually wither and die. Non-healing ulcers appear on the body and a person literally rots alive. Veins located near the injection sites "burn up." Those addicted to desomorphine do not survive for more than a year (for comparison: even heroin addicts have a survival rate of up to five years).

In addition, hepatitis C is reported in 33% of desomorphine addicts, according to health authorities.

Due to the chemical properties of desomorphine, those addicted to the drug never go into remission. Half the patients go back to taking the drug or start taking codeine pills.

Previously, desomorphine addicts were largely former heroin addicts. Recently, there have been more cases of drug addiction beginning with desomorphine.

The reference is based on open source materials

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2Cents said:

This is horrible... People. No matter what will find a way to make/get drugs and if u do things like make clean needles not available well do you think junkies are just gunna stop? No. This global war on drugs is not working, it's making things worse, MUCH worse. Case in point desomorphine.

I'm not saying we should hand out pills on the street corner but hey, make clean supplies available. Make pure lab grade chemicals available if the industrial chems are.

There is a solution to this problem.

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Quote:

The Russian makers only get a low yield or an impure product BUT codeine phosphate capsules are about $1.50/50x25mg so the start material is cheap. The exact route varies from maker to maker but they all seem to do more or less this:

1-Codeine + SOCl2 ---> α-Chlorocodide + HCl + SO2

2-α-Chlorocodide + I2 ---> 7,8 diiodo α-Chlorocodide

3-7,8 diiodo α-Chlorocodide + HI ----> desomorphine

Basically steps 2 & 3 are done in 1 pot. The iodine adds across the 7,8 double-bond in the same way Br adds across a double bond. The chemist then adds P to make HI which is a reducing agent. It removes the Is. The HI also demethylates the 3-methoxy. Looking at a list of the stuff formed, 6 or 7 impurities are found in varying amounts. Yield of product is about 30% at best. Of course, the stuff is x10 morphine so about 4x heroin (the BNF directs doctors that diamorphine is x2.5 morphine in medical uses).
Now, the product has a bare phenol on it so it cannot be smoked. One can readily esterify this compound (acetyl ester, nicotinic ester and so on) so it's BP becomes sufficiently low.
I will do a full test including pictures if enough people ask me to. It's about £300 of stuff I will use and I have no interest in taking the product... or selling... or giving away.

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2Cents said:

I'm sure stupid peope making it is a large factor... It's a shame. To bad it's so expensive to get a good chemistry set up. With $200 in glassware and better quality chems. Maybe these folks would save them selves a lot of hurt.


But on second thought...they are junkies.

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the fascinating part to me is that they claim 30$/gram H is way to expensive, way too much so that they start injecting themselves with heavy metals and iodine and what not.