For Gazette Opinion

In February, my office was contacted by Assemblymember Walsh (R-112th AD) because a constituent of hers, Nick Scribner, a 27-year-old resident of Ballston Spa, was found deceased by his brother in his bedroom after self-medicating with Kratom.

I quickly met with Assemblymember Mary Beth Walsh and Nick’s mother, Cari Scribner, to discuss what legislative action we could take to address the dangers of Kratom.

In the meeting, Cari shared with us that Nick’s death is believed to be the result of two catastrophic side effects of Kratom when combined: deep sleep and vomiting.

Nick struggled to fall asleep at night; he initially turned to Nyquil and Benadryl, which did not help.

He then found an online product listed as a “Natural Herbal Remedy” to help combat insomnia, which contained high amounts of........

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