Kratom, a herbal plant originating from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. Kratom is an herbal plant that is experiencing international fame. Especially for the United States, given the high death rate due to the opioid crisis in the USA. Recorded as many as 17,000 deaths due to opioid overdose that occurred in the US in 2021. (Beritasatu.com)
Launching from the New York Post page, Thursday (08/25/2022), The Marion County Coroner’s Office in Indianapolis revealed that drug overdoses were the cause of overcrowded morgues. At the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office in Chicago, more space and resources are needed during the Covid 19 pandemic. Now, Covid-19 deaths have decreased, but morgues still need extra space because of everyone being “killed” by fentanyl.
“The most common non-natural deaths are opioids, more than our number of homicides and traffic accidents,” said Cook County Chief Medical Examiner Dr Ponni Arunkumar. Opioid-related deaths in Cook County nearly tripled from 675 in 2015, to nearly 2,000 last year. “Most of it is related to fentanyl. These deaths from opioids are preventable, all these deaths are preventable,” said Dr. Arunkumar. Chicago area resident Karen Zander lost her 22-year-old son, John Allen, to fentanyl. Zander said in 2016, Allen made the choice to inhale cocaine spiked with fentanyl, which ultimately killed him. Zander says fentanyl is a “weapon” of mass destruction. “It’s time for us to wake up and get this stuff off the streets,” Zander said.
Another Chicago area resident, Caitlin Strebing, said her 35-year-old brother, Ryan, accidentally overdosed on fentanyl last year. She now advocates for substance abuse disorder and fentanyl awareness. “Fentanyl is the leading cause of death in the US today for ages 18-45 and I think that alone speaks for itself,” Strebing said. So far, there is no sign that this deadly trend will stop. The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office is still using their refrigerated trailer for the morgue and can handle all the bodies for now.
“The increase in 2020 will continue into 2021 and 2022 but if it increases further, then we may have to look at additional resources,” said Dr Arunkumar. Several coroner’s offices had to increase their budgets to address the problem.
Kratom, an herbal extract from the leaves of an evergreen tree (Mitragyna speciosa) that grows in Southeast Asia, is one substance that is promoted as a treatment for withdrawal. Kratom is sold as a dietary supplement and is not currently regulated in the United States, but federal agencies are taking action to combat false claims about kratom.
In Asia, people have used kratom in small amounts to reduce fatigue or treat opium addiction. In other parts of the world, people take kratom to ease withdrawal, feel more energetic, relieve pain, or reduce anxiety or depression. People take kratom to ease withdrawal because kratom evokes feelings of euphoria and may be obtained more easily than drugs prescribed for withdrawal.
