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REAL KRATOM STORIES FROM REAL PEOPLE
MOMS LETTERS: Whom It May Concern:
Kratom --nothing else!-- is what killed my 25-year-old son Caleb Sturgis on the morning of June 27, 2018. His autopsy showed an overdose of kratom on the way to work. How!?! Why!?! My husband, daughters, son, and I are so devastated, and life will never be normal again!
As Caleb's mother, I am writing to urge you to ban kratom. It is a dangerous drug, not "a harmless plant" like its supporters argue. It is sold as a tea, and is becoming a popular drink among young people.
His life was cut short, but he loved life! He was a health nut, so he was misled by the lies that it is a plant from the coffee family, so it can't hurt you. He got jitters from drinking regular coffee, so he was glad to find a product that gave him energy without the jitters! Well, poison ivy is a plant, too, right? Not all plants are safe!
Kratom is a mind altering, addictive drug that can kill. Caleb was not the kind of person to use hard drugs. He was always afraid to die, so he would not touch heroin, meth or heavy sedating drugs. Well, kratom acts like a drug, but it is advertised as a herbal supplement. He became dependent on it, unable to stay off it after a few days to two weeks, because of the painful side effects of withdrawal. At the end, he hated kratom, so he started tapering down.
However, we did not know it could kill. He would still be here if those kratom supporters had not stopped the FDA from banning it back in 2016 (that makes me so furious!). Kratom caused Caleb to develop cognitive problems and become more fatigued every day. He wanted to be involved in family events, but kratom made him so exhausted. Well, he did make it to most family events, after all, until it killed him. Now I get so angry just thinking back! We did not know it could kill! Caleb had ten hours of sleep before he woke up and drank it mixed with water for breakfast. How did he overdose on something that has no known dosing schedule? He did not want to die!
Caleb's autopsy was cited as evidence, and the medical coroner reported it to the FDA with our permission. Now we are suing Socal Herbal Remedies with the proof that Caleb died from kratom, nothing else. Our lawyer Bob Mongeluzzi took out case, and hired a specialist to analyze the package Caleb used before he left for work. He confirmed it was pure kratom, no heavy metals.
I don’t want other families to go through the hell we are going through now. 16 countries, 8 states, counties and cities have already banned it. I am urging you to do the same before it kills more people (there have been several deaths related to kratom since last summer). It is a dangerous plant. It does get you high and make you feel good. We need to take action to protect all vulnerable people, young and old.
I am attaching the petition. Please, help us fight by signing and sharing it with the public:
Sign the Petition Thank you for taking the time to read my letter, and I hope you will take a step in the right direction.
Sincerely,
Lori Sturgis (Caleb's mom)
To all medical examiners/coroners, toxicologists, chemists, and pathologists:
I am writing to urge you to add kratom to the list of drugs for toxicology screenings.
Kratom is what killed my 25 year old son Caleb -- only Kratom, nothing else. It is a "herbal supplement," but it is what killed my son and many other victims. It was detected by my medical examiner, Christine VandePol of Chester County, Pennsylvania, then reported to the FDA/DEA with my permission.
Kratom is a new, popular toxic drink today for young people who take it for energy, depression, or anxiety (or even all of the above) and older consumers use it for chronic pain, depression, and more. Many take it in secret.
Please, do add kratom to the drug list for toxicology tests. Parents have said they found out too late that their kids had used kratom but it was not investigated. To my knowledge, several unknown kratom deaths were dismissed, because their blood samples expired after 18 months to 2 years.
Please, alert all other medical professionals regarding this quickly-growing epidemic. Kratom is among the many silent killers now. I am attaching my letter and letters from others who have lost loved ones to kratom to show you that the "herbal supplement," kratom, does kill.
Lori Sturgis
o whom it may concern,
Candy aisles at gas stations are not the place a deathly substance called Kratom belongs. At the reach of children, curiosity of adolescent minds, and falsely marketed to innocent citizens. This is currently where Kratom is accessible to any U.S. citizen at anytime.
As my sweet twin brother Jay, was seeking a healthy supplement to increase his energy, enhance his mood and remedy pain from his college football and sports career, he came across Kratom. From researching online he saw raving reviews, strong advocates, and health oriented advertisements to encourage him to try Kratom. As the product is readily available at local gas stations, the internet and head shops without proper education on what Kratom can do to harm the mind and body. Without many broadcasted studies, side effect lists, or negative awareness efforts, I could even see where many would believe Kratom is a suitable supplement to improve one’s health. This must change. Jay Knaus, died, 25 years young, and the cause of death on his autopsy was solely: Accidental Mitragynine Intoxication (Kratom). Death and broken hearts were the ultimate side-effect of this drug. Hair loss, rashes, itching, headaches, withdrawals, vomiting, addiction and other negative effects we observed in hindsight.
Currently our nation is allowing this drug to be a mystery drug to the US citizens. Since the FDA and DEA pulled back in establishing Kratom a Schedule 1 drug in September 2016, they have since had many recalls and public announcements addressing their concern over this drug. Now considered an opioid, with over “152 kratom-positive decedents, including seven for whom kratom was the only substance to test positive on postmortem toxicology” in an 18 month period collected from the CDC [1] . The plants, capsules and powders are being imported from all over the world with no regulation of the origin’s creation, environment, measurements, combinations, access and safety. This drug is illegal in it’s origin such as Thailand , Indonesia and Malaysia. Other countries who are beyond us on the research, investigation, knowledge and use of this drug have established it illegal because of the research and negative symptoms it does to the body, mind and communities.
At the fault of our system, not providing product information necessary for individuals to make an informed decision for consumption on Kratom is a crime. With the opioid epidemic on an extremely dangerous rise, Kratom goes hand in hand with it’s opioid effects. We must take action, now. If making this drug illegal is not the answer, then we must offer other regulations and appropriate awareness measures immediately. As we are waiting for more scientific studies to make further decisions, I would like to encourage warning labels and age restrictions on this substance at the very least. This action will help prevent individual’s self harm and save lives.
I have contacted countless scientists, experts, medical professionals, political leaders and government agencies. I am terrified it has been 30+ months since Jay’s death, and no federal regulation efforts have been put in place. I have witnessed groups of Kratom users, such as Reddit’s QuittingKratom forum exponentially grow from 1600 people to 10,300+ in two and a half years. I have directly seen the harmful effects and addiction properties via the anecdotal stories on Facebook support group for Kratom. This must be put to a stop to protect the U.S. communities and citizens.
Thank you for your concern, time and efforts to help achieve safety for our citizens. I look forward to hearing from you regarding your organization’s decision to either help protect or not protect from Kratom.
Sincerely,
Julie Knaus (twin sister) and Carrie Rubino (sister) julieknaus1@gmail.com - (303) 408-4098
To whom it may concern:
My wife, Julie Renee Stosz, was taken by kratom on February 7th, 2019. She was 10 days short of her 50th birthday and 5 months away from our 25th wedding. Julie and I have 2 beautiful daughters, Kara 27 and Samantha 23 and the most beautiful granddaughter ever, Averie, 3 1/2 years old.
Julie started taking kratom around April of 2018 to help with the ongoing pain she had after having major neck surgery in January 2018. She took kratom sporadically for about 10 months before it took her life, no warning whatsoever. Kratom was listed as the sole cause of death on her death certificate, no other contributing factors, none.
The medical examiner who performed her autopsy, Dr. Mary Case and the toxicology expert at St. Louis University have both spoken out against kratom and its use and its dangers. They aided in attempting to get a kratom ban in St. Charles Missouri where the ban failed and they decided to regulate it instead amidst the tons of facts and figures presented to them by medical professionals. The county executive will put the regulation bill through but is doing so without his signature as he does not agree with the decision.
Kratom has left a permanent wake in all our families and friends lives, an emptiness and level of not understanding that can't be unraveled. How can something touted as a natural herb be killing so many people and getting tens of thousands of others addicted be allowed to simply slide under the radar and not get the level of attention it deserves?
Please ban Kratom, at least until it can be tested, made and distributed safely and its true therapeutic uses can be found. Then when that is completed, put it in the hands of the medical professionals to be distributed by prescription only...
Thank you,
Nick Stosz
My name is Laura Lamon. My son and only child Christopher Waldron, passed away on July 7th, 2017. He was 27 years old. He was a wonderful son, full of energy, humor and a deep sense of justice. He was generous with strangers, friends and animals. He left behind two children he deeply loved, a boy 9 and a girl 3. Christopher battled addiction for years and found what he thought was a natural magic bullet to get clean—Kratom. The battle to get and stay clean from drugs was difficult but the (what I now know to be) Kratom side effects were the worst. He became angry and distant. He would go from energetic and chatty to psychotic, depressed and checking out for weeks. He wouldn’t answer calls, emails or knocks at his door. I assumed he had switched to heavier drugs like heroin and was shocked when the coroner said Kratom was the cause of death. I had never heard of Kratom and only found after talking with his roommate and researching Quit Kratom sites, that my son suffered from very common side effects—raging depression, anger and severe withdrawals to name a few. When he died, the toxicology report listed Kratom and a therapeutic amount of a prescribed anti-depressant in his system. There was no warning label or serving size listed on the Kratom label. All he knew was what he learned from the internet—that Kratom was a miracle cure for addiction withdrawal, that he could use as much as he wanted and it was safe at any amount. Christopher had no health insurance so his options to get and stay clean were limited. We found a half-completed application for county health insurance in his back pack after the police took him away. He wouldn’t have qualified anyway.
My wish is that people would hear our stories and investigate some of the quit Kratom sites on Reddit and Facebook. There are stories posted by thousands of people struggling. It’s hard to block out the noise, money and power of the American Kratom Association, but we here and begging to be heard. Please let us tell you our stories!
Laura Lamon, Florida. Phone Number: (813) 789-2922
On July 16th 2014, 20 year old, Ian Gunnar Mautner took his own life, diving off of an interstate overpass, onto I-95 traffic, in South Florida. Ian was in active addiction to a “legal” and “unregulated” substance, known as Kratom. In his vehicle, several empty packets of kratom were found along with 2 full packets. Just prior to Ian’s death, he had just left his Grandmother’s home, stating, “I can’t live like this anymore”, after his Grandmother had to confront him about his stealing several checks from her to purchase kratom. “I have to take this Meme or I’ll be so sick” he told his Grandmother.
Ian was just 17 years old when he walked into a Kava Bar, that legally sold Kratom to all ages. He had no idea that the powder he was consuming there, was something specifically marketed for those struggling with addiction to Opiates. He was initially told by the Kava Bar employees and owner that Kratom was “an all natural, harmless product that helped people to relax, helped them think clearer and become more productive”. Ian was a bright and promising student all through High-school, an Honors Student and worked hard to be accepted to Florida State University in 2012, where he would become a Sigma Phi Epsilon Brother. Shortly after just two semesters away from home, in January of 2013, Ian was in crisis, due to his addiction to Kratom and had to be brought back home. After returning home, Ian was evaluated for his substance misuse and refused to enter Treatment. His addiction to Kratom continued to escalate and due to his erratic and unstable behavior our family, along with the help and guidance of an Addiction Therapist, set rules and boundaries. Ian was given the choice to either go to Treament or he would have to find another place to live. His habit went from $60 dollars per day to $120-$150 per day. In September, 2013, Ian finally agreed to go into a Medical Detox Center for a full-Opiate Detox and a Treatment Facility for 30 days, 9 months after returning home from FSU. Three months after Treament, Ian relapsed back to Kratom, and he went back into Detox and Treatment for 60 days. He returned to college, at Florida Atlantic University and relapsed in June, 2014, once again after being clean for 5 months. Tragically, this would be his final attempt to at living a life of Recovery, before his death.
Ian Gunnar Mautner, was the beloved son of Linda and Sven Mautner, an only child. He was loved and cherished by his family and many friends for his radiant smile, his laughter, his love, and his sensitive nature.
*Please regulate or schedule kratom*.
This is a very “highly addictive” and “mind altering” substance, and because so little is known in the Medical Community, regarding kratom, it’s addictive potential and deadly health effects, it’s extremely easy for unsuspecting young individuals to become lured into purchasing it, due to its increasing popularity over the internet, and false advertising of the substance which is being sold as a “supplement” or “cure all” for a variety of maladies, ie; social anxiety and physical ailments, PTSD, Fibromyalgia to opiate withdrawal. This product has also been declared, recently as an “Opiate” by the FDA. We are currently urging the DEA to make a decision regarding the scheduling of Kratom, as they had previously attempted in 2016 and after much “pushback” from the Kratom Community, in which, they backed down on their decision, which means Kratom continues to be widely available and sold on shelves to all age groups in most states, cities and counties across the US as an “unregulated” supplement.
*It should be noted that prior to Ian’s addiction to Kratom, he had a negative history of behavioral health issues or mental health issues. Upon evaluation, while in treatment, Ian was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder (after using kratom continuously for several months). Ian was prescribed medications, while in treatment for Bipolar Disorder and Anxiety Disorder. His medications were Celexa, GABA Pentin, Trazadone. These were the only drugs found by toxicology along with Mitragynine Speciosa (Kratom)
On
Kindest regards,
Linda Mautner, RN
President, Ian Mautner Foundation
Founder, Board Member Southeast Florida Recovery Advocates
linmau78@yahoo.com
(561)-313-6035
o Whom it May Concern:
I have to share my experience with Kratom. This herbal supplement has pretty much destroyed my family and destroyed my son. He suffered from anxiety and panic attacks, did some research on the net, and discovered this product. Unfortunately, he is now addicted, depressed, anxious and withdrawn. After finding his stashes around the house and throwing them away, inevitably, he will order more and begin using it again. It is so easy to just walk into herbal supplement stores and purchase it without a problem. My son is a zombie now. I try my best to detach and get myself ready for the inevitable—my son dying from an overdose. He was already hospitalized once. Every day I worry if he will make it home or not and I don’t sleep until he does. I have no life anymore because his whereabouts consume every minute of my day. My son is either high and, in a daze, or he is in a deep sleep, coming down from using. Our lives are forever affected because he is now an addict—what makes it worse, is he is an addict to a substance that is too readily available. A legal, addicting opioid is what Kratom is. There must be regulations put in place for this product!! How many more people will die and how many more families destroyed, with parents like me—waiting for their kid to die? I don’t even know what it is like for my son to be his “regular” self anymore, because for as long as I know, he has been using this product. He is just an empty shell of what he used to be. I do not want to lose my son to this powder! He hates himself and has told me so, he wants to stop, but cannot. He has no confidence because of the vicious cycle of wanting to stop, not being able to, getting depressed, then starting to use all over again.
Life with an addict—I go through his dresser, his closet, his school bag, look underneath his bed, just so I can find his stash and throw it out. I don’t trust him anymore and ask him daily if he’s on his powder, which we all know is in vain, because an addict will not openly admit it. I sleep with 1 eye open, because I don’t know what he’s up to. He’s not my son anymore. This is not living, we are merely existing.
I am asking for this product to be banned—at the minimum, its sales regulated. There must be more testing done on this product. How many more troubled people have to die, because they were looking for relief, to feel happy, and instead got addicted to the devil that is Kratom?
Amanda Texeira
Amanda.Texeira@k12.dc.gov
718 717 9314
My name is Carol Genautis. My son Eric died of a Kratom overdose on December 29, 2017 at the age of 26. His death has traumatized my family. Please get Kratom off the street! Eric thought it was a safe substance to use because of the way they market it online. It was the miracle drug that was cheap and easy to get but it has turned my world upside down. Kratom needs to be outlawed.
From a mother whose life will never be the same....
To Whom It May Concern;
When my daughter was only 15 a Kratom tea bar opened up by our home. The local teens started hanging out there regularly.
My once healthy honor student, sporty, focused driven daughter started displaying odd behaviors. She would have fits of rage, loss of interest in everything she once loved, and started becoming more and more delusional. Until eventually baker acted.
A neurologist there informed us that he believed Kratom ate the fat around my daughter’s frontal lobe and requested I get a guardianship (which I did) because the damage could be permanent. We have spent thousands on neurologists, psychologists, and psychiatrists to undo the damage.
Today she is able to function but still has changes that we believe to be permanent at this time like concentration, memory loss, impaired judgement, withdrawn (was once very outgoing), and “spacey”.
Our family is traumatized by this experience. Kratom should not be dispensed to anyone until it is furthered studied and regulated/banned. There are no warnings or controlled amounts at these so-called “tea” places. Please consider joining our fight to regulate/ban in your area.
Sincerely,
Mary Tabar
To whom it may concern,
I’m begging you to ban or at least regulate Kratom, it killed my 21 year old son!! Yes, the active ingredient in Kratom was listed as cause of death.
My son Joey ,struggled with an Adderall and Xanax addiction. He wanted to quit taking pills and the clerk at a tobacco shop sold him Kratom capsules.
My son was brilliant and had a whole life to look forward to and an over the counter and unregulated product murdered him. I will NEVER get over the loss of my child.
You have the power, responsibility and the DUTY to protect the public from Kratom!! I’m begging you to do the right thing.
Sincerely,
Grieving mom,
Peggy LaPenna
Grand Rapids,MI.
Meg Clayton’s Facebook post to create awareness of niece’s death from Kratom)
Dear friends,
This is certainly the most personal post I've ever written, and the most important. So ... I'm remembering my niece Mikali Waite on her 27th birthday today, an age she never saw because she died last spring at 26. I want to honor her memory by asking you to educate yourself about kratom, an "herbal supplement" more potent than morphine, yet unregulated in the U.S., freely available in large quantities on the internet, and shockingly popular among smart young people.
I want to tell you just a little about Mikali, because one of the things that happens is we imagine we and our children are not vulnerable, that it is other kinds of people who get caught in poor choices.
This is one of my favorite photos of Mikali, taken at my dad's birthday party a few years ago. I choose it because it shows her radiant smile, and in the background my brother Mike (who was so proud to have a daughter that he gave her his own name), and also the young man Mikali was in love with. She graduated from college with honors. He is in one of the top PhD programs in his field in the country. They are smart, successful young people. High school sweethearts who were still crazy in love almost a decade later. He was at Mikali's bedside when she died. She was in a hospital by then, but could not be saved.
Somewhere along the way, my niece started tiaking kratom. Again, it is not illegal. It is not regulated. It is freely available as an "herbal supplement."
This is what the Mayo Clinic says about it:
Poison control centers in the United States received about 1,800 reports involving use of kratom from 2011 through 2017, including reports of death... In animals, kratom appears to be more potent than morphine... Too, people who use kratom may begin craving it and require treatments given for opioid addiction.
Please, if you are taking kratom or know anyone who is, stop taking it or get them to stop taking it, and find help.
Thank you for reading this far. More about kratom at https://www.mayoclinic.org/…/c…/in-depth/kratom/art-20402171
Concerns of Kratom being sold in the United States:
Look at the "Not For Human Consumption" on the bags as they come out of Indonesia.
Starts as a raw plant leaf in Indonesia that is smuggled into this country marked as “Not For Human Consumption" to being put into a pill form to be ingested or into a shot form such as Viva Zen or the leaf form to make a tea.
Many brands of Kratom are called an Extract or a Concentrate, some of them say “500X stronger”. There are no studies concerning Extracts especially any that are 500X stronger. At a minimum this is mislabeling and misbranding of a product.
Some of the 5, 10 and 20 gram bags sold in the stores, the bags look just like the Synthetic Drug (K-2 Spice ) bags do, and in many places Kratom sits right along with the K-2. Very unsafe!
If I can be of any service, please feel free to call me.
Lance Dyer
770-896-9024
November 3, 2019
To Whom It May Concern:
In 2015, after 5 months in rehab for methadone (after 10 years of daily use, provided by a non-state funded clinic in Austin, TX), my older son entered a sober living program. This included a ‘Segue Coach’ ($8000), who was to help him adjust to ‘normal’ life.
Within 5-6 weeks I noticed that he did not seem right. My concern turned out to be justified because he admitted to using Kratom. None of us had ever heard of it (Asian tea leaf?). Within a month he was using heroin. I cried that Friday afternoon when he told me he was going to purchase his ‘last hit’ of heroin, promising to return for another 30 days of rehab after this. Thank God that he survived that weekend, and went back into the recovery program.
After completing his 30 days, my son moved to Birmingham, where my husband and I live. He moved into a sober living facility. Within a few weeks, he came forth and admitted that he had relapsed on Kratom again. I decided to go out and see how easy Kratom could be found. It seemed to everywhere. The scummier gas stations and liquor stores had it in small liquid bottles, for $5.00-8.00, with several different brands and labels. I did not see it in powder form at this time. Not too long after this, the state of Alabama made Kratom illegal, although it was readily available in nearby Georgia or Florida.
Since my older son had admitted to his relapse, he was allowed to remain in sober living, and thankfully has remained clean to this day. In the meantime, my younger son, who was completing his last year of college at the University of Texas in Austin, began using Kratom. He had been ‘dabbling’ in opiods, including heroin, and heard the ‘great’ news that Kratom takes away the cravings and keeps one from getting dope sick. It sickens me to be writing this, or describing it in conversation. In an effort to keep his heroin use down, my son was using quite a bit of Kratom, as evidenced by the large bags he was ordering on-line. He was constantly sick to his stomach, throwing up, have rash outbreaks on his face, and God knows what else!
He died on April 4, 2017, from a dose of pure heroin. I was told that based on the volume of Kratom he was buying, he was desperately trying NOT to use heroin. If you knew my son you would never believe he died this way.
Kratom is just as bad as heroin. I hate these companies who sell it and push it on people. My therapist has a few older adult clients who are addicted to Kratom and she has told me how highly addictive and bad it is, and how it affects the brain and body. I hate to even mention Kratom in AA meetings, for fear that some younger person will be tempted to try it.
We are losing our children needlessly. Kratom should not be allowed for purchase on-line or in any stores. The people who sell it should be treated like any other illegal drug dealers.
Sincerely,
Rose Mary Coleman
205-240-1040
4/26/2024
