A Dallas mother believes an unregulated over-the-counter herbal supplement was behind the accidental death of her son.
Alaina Brooks says her son Keaton Brooks turned to kratom in an attempt to help treat anxiety, a condition he suffered from for most of his life. The use of the drug was an effort to take matters into his own hands to try and just “be normal,” said Alaina, per WFAA. Tragically, on February 15, less than two weeks before he was set to turn 17, Keaton passed away in his sleep.
“At 8:29 I opened the door to his room. And I said Keats, and he didn’t answer me,” Alaina said.
Alaina later learned that Keaton obtained the anxiety drug clonazepam, also known as Klonopin, from a fellow student at Highland Park High School. Then, months later, an autopsy report from the Dallas County Medical Examiner ruled Keaton’s death accidental from “the toxic effects of mitragynine and clonazepam.”
Mitragynine is a psychoactive compound within the Southeast Asian plant kratom.
“I think my son found kratom because he thought it was a safe way to deal with his anxiety,” Alaina Brooks said, reported WFAA on August 25.
Kratom is widely available over the counter at smoke and vape shops and convenience stores, including those located in Dallas.
According to Kerri Stitt, president and CEO at Youth180, kratom overdoses and cases of dependency are growing.
“We do believe that minors should not be able to walk into a gas station or a smoke shop and be able to purchase it right now… It’s just too dangerous for them to be experimenting with things like this that we don’t know enough about,” said Stitt.
Last month, the FDA announced it was in the initial stages of scheduling the primary opioids found in kratom under the Controlled Substances Act. The FDA is targeting 7-OH, 7-hydroxymitragynine, a concentrated byproduct of the plant. While it is found in kratom naturally in small percentages, it is being synthesized into stronger and more dangerous amounts.
According to FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, “7-OH is an opioid that can be more potent than morphine.”