A mum has told of her outrage that a natural supplement dubbed gas station heroin is 'allowed to stay on the shelves' after the death of her youngest son.
Kaden Goss, 22, passed away on 5 June after falling asleep on his friend's sofa in Fort Worth, Texas, his mother Kayemille explained.
She has claimed that his death was caused by the consumption of kratom, a popular plant substance which people use to self-treat conditions such as pain, coughing, anxiety and depression, opioid misuse or withdrawal symptoms.
According to Harvard Health, kratom also possesses properties that can provide a 'stimulant-like, energising and uplifting' sensation, which can become 'opioid-like, causing drowsiness and euphoria'.
Advert
"Kratom has dozens of active components, which makes it difficult to characterise as one particular type of drug, such as stimulant or opioid," it explains. "The two main chemicals, mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH), have activity at the main opioid receptor, the 'mu' receptor, which is the same one stimulated by heroin and oxycodone."
Kaden, a business student, first tried kratom in May while celebrating with his mates before his summer internship started.
"He went out to a lake house with friends," Kayemille said. "Apparently, someone turned up with kratom they had bought at a gas station. They tried it and evidently, they enjoyed it."
Three days after first sampling the Southeast Asian plant substance, Kaden's mum explained that he then purchased more kratom at a vape shop.
Kayemille said there was a 'plethora of different kinds' of the stuff on sale, noting that the student purchased the substance in tablet form, although it can also be made into tea.
"It contained 7-OH [the naturally-occurring alkaloid in kratom] in it," she continued. "They were at one of the boys' university campus houses. He fell asleep on the couch and he did not wake up the next day."
In a toxicology report issued by the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office, it stated that the student had mitragynine and 7-OH in his system, both of which are found in kratom.
Alcohol, a small level of anxiety, and seizure medication, clonazepam, were also discovered in his body at the time of death.
In the UK, possession for personal use is not illegal, but the sale, supply, import and export of kratom is prohibited under the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016.
Across the pond in the US, only six states have made it illegal to buy, sell, possess or use kratom, but it is not currently banned in Texas.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned that kratom consumers can be at risk of liver toxicity, seizures, substance use disorder and in rare cases, death.
Kayemille has told how she 'couldn't stop screaming' when she received the tragic news over the phone about Kaden's passing.
She recalled: "I was on the back porch and I just threw the phone and I started screaming. I fell straight down onto the ground, and I wanted to go into the ground. I can't really describe how it felt.
"I was just screaming and my neighbours came running. I couldn't stop screaming. He was our youngest. He was the smartest in our family and was very gifted and on the honour roll."
She said it is 'unfathomable' that kratom is so easily available to buy from petrol stations, vape shops and even some health food stores - so she's raising awareness of the dangers.
"As a mother, it terrifies me and angers me that this is allowed to stay on the shelves," Kayemille added. "It needs to be considered a controlled substance and against the law.
"If we could save just one family from having to go through the agony we have gone through, that is what Kaden would want.
"We have to follow through with this. His life had much meaning and we want his death to have just as much meaning as his life."
Fort Worth Police Department confirmed they attended Kaden's friend's address on 5 June this year, where he had stayed over. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Olivia Burke