Drugs don’t just get people high, they often
progress straight from a high to death.
As drug deaths rise, new, more dangerous drugs
continue to emerge.
This list will alter your mind by making you
more aware of just how deadly or strange some
of the increasingly abused and concocted substances
are becoming.
We profile a chemical rogue’s gallery of
deadly and deceptive substances prowling the
streets of our modern world.
For some of these substances, any dose is
an overdose.
This list is dedicated to those trapped by
substance abuse and to the workers striving
to help those affected.
10.
Krokodil
This terrifying new drug originates from a
modified base consisting primarily of Codeine,
mixed with noxious chemicals.
The effects are horrendous, mimicking flesh-eating
disease and bringing on gangrene, withering
and ulceration causing limb loss, flesh decay
and death.
Apart from real photos of users, scenes from
The Walking Dead offers the best possible
“artist’s renderings” of the effects.
The problem has a significant root in Russian
and Ukrainian drug-using circles, associated
with many cases of serious body damage and
death stemming from its highly caustic, psychoactive
and diverse toxicological characteristics.
The composition of Krokodil makes it corrosive
to the body.
Thus it not only can trigger mental problems,
cognitive difficulties and addiction, but
it acts as a solvent and inflammatory agent
in the body.
Flesh damage and circulation problems frequently
precede infection, which is just what happens
with Krokodil use.
The name for the drug “Krokodil” is a
reference to the reptilian look that green,
dying flesh that dries out and becomes scaled
appears to be after use of this improvised
drug.
Media reports have exaggerated its occurrence
in the United States, but its use in Russia,
Ukraine and nearby places is presenting a
bonafide health hazard.
9.
Fentanyl & Related Substances
Fentanyl is a drug that is more like a plague
among drug users than a sought after substance
in some cases, being extremely dangerous but
used to cut more prevalent drugs, often with
deadly effects.
Other times, fentanyl — a pain-killing opioid
— is deliberately concentrated and abused
for its narcotic properties.
Huge numbers of deaths are occurring, notably
in Canada and other parts of North America,
from overdoses on fentanyl, which has an extremely
low threshold for causing a deadly overdose
compared to more “normal” drugs, prompting
a degree of panic.
As if this were not bad enough, the related
but even more deadly Carfentanil is becoming
available for misuse, many times more potent
(100 times as strong, to be exact), and often
used to tranquilize an elephant in the veterinary
and wildlife management professions.
The incredibly potent drug has caused a rash
of fatal overdoses in Western Canada in recent
months as noted by the BC Coroner’s Service.
In one case, a kilogram of Carfentanil was
intercepted at a Canadian port of entry.
Canadian officials have been working with
foreign representatives to attempt to halt
the movement of illegal synthetic opioids
across the border but efforts have not stopped
the deaths.
8.
Smiles
A deadly synthetic containing Iodine, among
other things in its chemical formula, Smiles
— which is an acronym for simplified molecular-input
line-entry system — is a drug that has caused
a wide range of symptoms including seizures
and other neurological disturbances, as well
as mental problems and death in adults and
teenagers who use the “designer drug.”
The drug is used in multiple forms, including
liquids and powders.
The truly horrific consequences use of this
drug can bring about stem from its initially
quasi-legal status.
Law-skirting drug pushers and chemists have
attempted to jump ahead of controlled substance
legislation by creating so-called designer
drugs like Smiles, but the new and untested
chemicals can be extremely dangerous.
Smiles is now illegal, having been documented
and described, but it is still out there.
Deaths can result from overdose, while mere
use can provoke extremely dangerous medical
complications.
In one case, a user was found hitting their
head on a hard paved surface, foaming from
the mouth and dying two hours after being
found.
Extremely serious hallucinations may also
cause fatal accidents as users misjudge their
surrounds.
7.
Flakka
Triggering dopamine release, Flakka is a strange
synthetic drug that is used at the peril of
anyone who tries it.
The side effects can include breaks with reality
and related chaotic and destructive behavior,
as well as euphoria, aggression and death.
Coming off the drug carries a risk of depression
in the process.
The drug known as Flakka on the street came
into existence in the south of Florida, where
it has cut a swath through the lives of individuals
lured by another high.
The drug is a synthetic that mimics the effects
of the Khat plant, a primarily African and
West Asian drug of natural botanical origin,
but is much stronger and more unpredictable.
In fact, Flakka is similar to methamphetamines
in its effect, yet even stronger.
A wide variety of disturbing biological effects
may crash down on those reckless enough to
use it, including crazed behavior, euphoria
and high levels of anger.
The drug is highly addictive, and is capable
of causing serious damage to the human body
beyond temporary or lasting mental disturbance.
Tissue damage can result due to metabolic
stimulation as the body temperature rises
in users.
Kidney damage is one of the worst possible
effects.
6.
Synthetic Marijuana
The risks of real marijuana are as real as
air and water, but are still incredibly mild
compared to the truly horrific dangers posed
by the fake stuff.
So-called “synthetic marijuana,” often
called “Spice” or “K2,” is a true
nightmare for users and medical professionals
alike.
Consisting of various chemicals sprayed onto
dried plant material, the product has ended
up for sale in places as diverse as gas stations
and alcohol retail outlets.
While it might not seem like a “hard”
drug, the doctored garbage can have effects
that are ultimately just as deadly.
The effects of “synthetic marijuana” use
can include paranoia, death, blindness, heart
problems, incoherence, aggression, panic attacks
and loss of consciousness.
Sneaky labelling techniques include branding
the material as “incense, not for consumption”
to try to avoid prosecution for selling the
dangerous product.
Exposure can be made much worse by the synergistic,
or combined greater effects of multiple ingredients
attacking the body together, while the random
nature of artificial, so-called synthetic
marijuana makes treating medical complications
much harder for medical staff compared to
a more “normal” drug overdose.
Clearly, all that can be said is don’t smoke
the spice!
5.
Cactus Abuse
If some shady characters approached you and
asked about wanting some cactus, you might
not be receiving an offer for a new houseplant.
Getting you hooked on a strange, natural — but
potentially dangerous — drug might be the
real goal.
Not at all like an artificial drug, like many
others on this list, the chemical derivative
of certain psychoactive cacti, known as mescaline,
present a drug problem common to southwestern
climates.
San Pedro Cactus and similar cacti are spiky
plants that could get you higher than a tree
and sicker than a dog should you mess with
them.
Mescaline can cause disturbing symptoms including
a loss of identity and perceptual disturbances.
While cacti extracts have a history of use
by native tribal healers, shamans and the
like, mescaline has become a drug of abuse
for those seeking an escape from reality.
With the use of mescaline comes some very
concerning side effects.
Rather than being physically addictive, mescaline
tends to trigger psychological dependence,
as well as physical tolerance, causing increasingly
large doses to be required to create the same
psychoactive effect.
Rehab involves both controlled withdrawal
and efforts to resolve life circumstances
that could provoke use and dependence.
4.
Rubbing Alcohol
Normal alcohol, known as ethanol, will get
you plenty drunk and comes in the ingredients
of familiar drinks like beer, wine and whiskey.
But for some people, too much whiskey is not
the problem.
Another alcohol, never intended for human
consumption, is the drug of choice, with truly
grave consequences faced by users.
Medical grade and industrial grade isopropyl
alcohol products are commonplace, prized by
various industries and consumer groups as
disinfectants, surface cleaners, hand sanitizers
and wound care products.
With a potent smell, the chemical (often known
as rubbing alcohol) is strong and will get
a person “drunk” fast but with serious
medical complications.
Just a small amount may unleash a horrific
host of symptoms, with blindness, brain damage
and death among the awful possibilities.
Abusers may huff or drink the noxious substance
that was never intended for human oral consumption.
Part of the problem may stem from a lack of
knowledge about alcohol, and that there are
different alcohols — some drinkable in moderation,
and others that if consumed are almost as
deadly as rat poison.
3.
Snake Venom Abuse
Being bitten by a venomous snake and taking
an overdose of a dangerous drug are often
viewed in the same light as being two deadly
fates for a person to meet.
But the two problems are also almost never
related to each other.
So it might come as a surprise to most people
that certain “drug addicts” are taking
terrible risks by abusing snake venom as a
drug.
While snake venom might seem to be the last
thing one would select as a “recreational
substance,” it is a fact that snake venom
has been tapped for its properties that are
comparable to opioids in some respects.
While use of snake venom as a drug is rare,
it is nevertheless a substance abuse problem
that has prompted some rather unusual scholarly
research.
In a most bizarre case that exemplifies the
rare problem, a young man from Rajasthan,
India had been using opium among other substances
and had turned to relatively small doses of
cobra venom, inflicted through bites.
His “drug dealers” were nomad snake charmers,
whom he recruited to assist him in getting
bitten, causing bizarre “highs” and a
range of nasty physical symptoms.
While he could have easily died, researchers
helped him to “get clean” from snake venom.
2.
Extreme Caffeine Abuse
The health benefits of a cup of coffee are
well known, and tea and Coca-Cola (which has
not contained any cocaine for years and years)
offer drinkers a little caffeine as a mild
stimulant.
Yet caffeine functions as a powerful drug
in concentrated doses and with the availability
of more and more powerful caffeine products,
the chance of an overdose looms larger.
Take certain sports drinks and even more concentrated
caffeine tablets, and the opportunity to abuse
caffeine presents itself readily.
Even more dangerous is caffeine powder that
has been refined to purity.
Caffeine lowers appetite, increases heart
rate and respiration, and serves to wake people
up.
But too much caffeine can cause a heart problem
known as ventricular fibrillation, which happens
when the lower heart chambers vibrate instead
of completing regular contractions.
With the abnormal heartbeat, cardiac arrest
follows.
As of 2018, 92 deaths have been documented
as a result of caffeine overdose, where users
abused caffeine products with fatal results.
Caffeine overdoses are believed to have been
suicides in about a third of the overdose
cases.
1.
DiPT
DiPT is a banned street drug that is known
for potentially causing hearing damage.
DiPT (5-methoxy-N, N-diisopropyltryptamine,
often abbreviated as 5-MeO-DIPT) is a prime
example of why hallucinogens can be extremely
dangerous.
Considered an auditory hallucinogen, the drug
functions in a manner somewhat comparable
to LSD, but is known to produce auditory hallucinations
to a greater degree compared to visual ones.
Classified as a Schedule I controlled substance
by the DEA, DiPT is not accepted for medical
use in the United States but for sanctioned
research projects such as tests on animals.
Users have been known to snort, inject or
smoke the drug for a high that is shorter
than that produced by LSD.
With frequent use comes increasing potential
for long term damage.
Given that the drug messes with people’s
auditory perceptions, long term damage affects
similar human senses.
Users have reported long term hearing difficulties
following use, while cases of King-Kopetzky
syndrome have occurred.
In this disorder, people struggle to separate
background noise from distinct acoustic occurrences.
