Max

My name is Cindy and I lost my son Max to kratom,

It’s difficult to know where to begin when speaking of Max. I want his life to be so much more important then his death but here we are. Max, my beloved, youngest child. The sweetest and kindest person I have ever met. His life was so much greater than this horrible and profoundly life-altering ending.

What I do know and relive every day is on December 1, 2021 Max called me to say he was running to the mall for shoes for his new job in 3 days as a Sous Chef at a well known restaurant. He was beyond happy and excited. Hanging up at 12:15pm, he said as always “Love you Mama.” I went about my day visiting sisters out of state , not realizing my whole life was changing. Unbeknownst to me at 2:16pm, Max collapsed outside of the mall and he was unable to be revived. Max was a healthy 30 year old looking forward to this next step in his life,

What was Max’s cause of death? Kratom toxicity, He died from an unregulated and legal drug sold in gas stations and kava bars. Max had suffered for years from anxiety and started going to kava bars for kratom as he was told it helped with anxiety. With no instructions or labels, he had no idea how much to consume. Kratom has ruined my life and now I have made it my life’s mission to ban it until ALL science is in. I miss Max terribly and will one day tell his incredible and exciting life story but until kratom is banned, I will have to tell his story.