Mother who lost son urges new Utah Kratom ‘guardrails’

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Patti Wheeler was curious what her son Wyatt, a business student, was using when she found a “supplement” container on a family trip.

A short time later, he was dead.

”My son Wyatt passed away from Kratom,” said Wheeler, who flew into Salt Lake from Florida and arrived at the state Capitol on Thursday.

“There’s no doubt in your mind that Kratom was the cause of Wyatt’s death?” 2News asked.

“A hundred percent,” she replied, adding the coroner confirmed it, calling some forms of Kratom as addictive as heroin or morphine.

MORE | Kratom

Wheeler is the executive producer of a new documentary, “Kratom, Side Effects May Include,” and Drug Free Utah invited lawmakers — in the middle of the Kratom debate — for dinner and screening Thursday night at the Gateway theater.

Walter Plumb, Drug Free Utah leader, said his daughter would drink Kratom as a tea and that it spiked her blood pressure.

“She eventually had a stroke,” Plumb said, followed by months of rehab.

The American Kratom Association said the substance, derived from leaves of tropical trees in Southeast Asia, is safe if used properly.

Though legal in most states, the FDA has urged people not to consume it, citing adverse side effects, including seizures.

“I’m a success story,” said Lora Romney, a “nine-year” Kratom user, who testified before a legislative committee last month. “I have incredible health.”

Romney said Kratom dramatically improved a nerve condition.

“If this were to be banned,” she said, “I literally will not be able to get out of bed.”

Measures at the Capitol could severely restrict Kratom, which is widely available at stores all over the state, but banning it outright seems off the table with just a couple of weeks to go this legislative session.

_____