A Beautiful Life Stolen

The Mayo Clinic calls it addictive, unsafe and ineffective. Opponents call it “gas station heroin.” But for Patti Wheeler, it’s the tragic cause of death for her 27-year-old son Robert “Wyatt” Wheeler, who suffered a fatal seizure just six weeks after he began taking Kratom. With the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration announcing July 1 that it is implementing a temporary, emergency ban on synthetic, concentrated forms of the drug — a compound called 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) — we talk to Wheeler about her years of advocacy work and why she believes the ban needs to be broader and permanent. We also speak to a local recovery expert about the unique threats and challenges posed by ever-evolving formulas of synthetic drugs.