The latest news related to the tragic case of Tupper Lake police Sgt. Matthew Dana shines a bit more light on how the coroner ruled that Sgt. Dana died from a kratom overdose. The coroner's report claimed that Sgt. Dana's hemorrhagic pulmonary edema (blood in the lungs) was a result of a kratom overdose. Considering the fact that no deaths to date have occurred, either in persons using recreationally or therapeutically or in laboratory animals who were specifically being tested on the potential respiratory depression made this an unlikely scenario for many consumers of the Southeast Asian plant, a relative of coffee, that has for hundreds of years been used as a folk medicine in Indonesia, Malaysia and other areas in the region.
The DEA attempted an extra-judicial ban of kratom last year, at about this same time in fact. After a massive outpouring of support not only from the kratom community but from members of congress, medical professionals, addiction specialists, pharmacologists and ethnobotanists kratom made history as the first substance to beat an attempted "emergency scheduling" by the Drug Enforcement Agency.
The coroner, Shawn Stuart, along with local medical examiner Dr. C. Francis Varga used information from the Journal of Analytical Toxicology and the Journal of Forensic Sciences during their investigation. A supposed "possible kratom toxicity" case (a former heroin addict who was also found with large amounts of cold medicine and benzodiazepines in his system) factored in as the partial reason for kratom being implicated.
Many kratom consumers spoke out against the coroner and his medical report. Considering the history of propaganda about kratom being spread by wildfire their behavior was understandable if not justified. Claims he had been "bought off" were immediately dismissed by <a href="http://www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com/news/local-news/2017/09/kratom-debate-reaches-new-level/">Stuart who says the full report will be made public</a> when it is complete. One issue taken by some following the case is the fact that he seems to be implying causation via correlation.
<a href="http://www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com/news/local-news/2017/09/coroner-reveals-details-behind-kratom-overdose-report/">As the Adirondack Daily Enterprise reports</a>, "Coroners are elected by county voters. They are not required to be medical professionals, but they use medical and police resources, including medical examiners, to inform reports."
The question of how an overdose would cause Sgt. Dana's lungs to fill with blood has not yet been addressed. State police say they will use Stuart's report to further investigate <a href="http://www.thegoldwater.com/news/8003-Could-Tragic-Death-Attributed-to-Kratom-Have-Other-Causes">Sgt. Dana's death.</a> I personally find it a shame that many following the story may consider this case to be far from what it is.
Sgt. Dana is described by many news outlets as using a "legal, but controversial drug." Language like that in the era following the "Bath Salts" research chemical scare seems to imply this officer was using some sort of "legal high." In actuality, Sgt. Dana was using a beneficial plant medicine that is used by thousands daily to alleviate anxiety, PTSD, depression, fibromyalgia, neuropathy, chronic pain, withdrawal and addiction and a host of other conditions. <a href="http://topshelfkratom.com/the-current-state-of-kratom-research/">Recent research shows</a> that the persons living with the previous conditions or even tumors and cancer may benefit from the use of kratom leaf.
Thank you so much for looking into this further. The loss of an officer is devastating and I would like to extend my condolences to his family. Also, to his brothers and sisters on the force. Kratom has so much potential to answer our opiod epidemic. I am a 52 year old grandmother who went from bedridden to living life again. Pharmaceuticals had me in a downward spiral. For every pill they would give me, i would need 2 more for the side effects. I love being able to go 100% natural, with little to no side effects. You will vomit if you take too much, so overdose is impossible. Thank you again for opening this back up and digging a little deeper. You may have saved mine and many others life!
First of all my heart goes out to this gentleman's friends and family. I feel very badly for them and I am very sorry for their loss. Of all the research that I've done on Kratom powder I have never found anything like that. I don't think he died from Kratom. I've been using it for a few months now and before I started I did tons of research and there have been no deaths from overdose. I did see however that he was using Kratom extract which is very strong and it could probably make you pretty sick if you took too much of it. Since he had addiction issues, I wonder if he was abusing the Kratom powder. And if he was, that has nothing to do with the Kratom that has more to do with addiction.
I'm glad the officer's death is being looked into on a deeper level. I don't believe for a second Kratom played a role in his death… It's not a drug that anyone can overdose on, it's a natural substance that will make someone vomit if too much is taken.
I've been using Kratom for a while now and the worst that's ever happened is I didn't drink enough water (which is bad because Kratom will make you constipated when you don't).
I researched Kratom when I started considering using it to see if it would help the pain from acute arthritis in my back and neck. I read a great number of articles, from which I learned about the different strains and their benefits.
I use the Super Red for my pain management on a daily basis without any ill effects. In fact, the opposite happened.
At 64 years of age, and refusing any pharmaceutical drugs, I resigned myself to living in extreme pain, unable to walk upright, or to even stand for more than 3-5 minutes at a time, taking more than a shallow breath caused wracking pain, even the thought of walking my dog was terrifying. Kratom, however, was the only thing that has given me my life back.
The first thing I noticed after my first dose of Kratom was that I was actually breathing, *Pain Free*. I was almost afraid to try to stand but I did and, I stood straight up for the first time in more years than I can remember. I even bent over and immediately stood up again… No Pain!
Life was mine again to live and enjoy.
As I said earlier, my condolences to the family… I truly hope what really took his life is discovered and they can begin to heal.
I just know if I didn't have Kratom….. my life would be one of endless agony and depression.
I believe there was another reason the officer lost his life.
This is irresponsible on the part of the coroner. Kratom, by itself, has not been responsible for a single overdose death. When the body has too much kratom in it, you will vomit. There is no maybe about it and no exceptions. I'm sorry for the man's family and understand what this loss means. My own husband died young, leaving a family. If there was cold medicine and benzos in his system, there's a better chance of finding the cause of death in that than in kratom. This is blatant propaganda to turn people against kratom. It's not a drug, it's a plant that helps thousands and thousands of people live normal lives.
Sounds like a rigged Official report for political and economic reasons.
The key to this is education. It looks like the coroner couldn't find a cause of death and decided on Kratom overdose to see if it sticks to the wall. I have had a bulging disc and scoliosis and have the option of using Vicodin, however kratom is by far the best choice for me. The reason I say education is I recently had a laser lithotripsy and went in for the pre-op meeting and told the two nurses that I was taking kratom. They didn't know what it was, and both decided that, after I assured them that I would stop taking it 72 hours before the operation, they would not to even record the fact that I was taking kratom.