A former assistant high school football coach in Florida has been arrested after he allegedly gave a 17-year-old student a kratom-based supplement.
According to the Hernando Sun, Terry Kennedy, former assistant football coach for Hernando High School, provided a student with two packets of kratom-based supplement when the student asked for it. The student had previously seen Kennedy use the supplement as an energy booster.
A former assistant high school football coach in Florida has been arrested after he allegedly gave a 17-year-old student a kratom-based supplement.Â
According to the Hernando Sun, Terry Kennedy, former assistant football coach for Hernando High School, provided a student with two packets of kratom-based supplement when the student asked for it. The student had previously seen Kennedy use the supplement as an energy booster.Â
According to the FDA's wesbite, products prepared from kratom leaves are available in the U.S. through sales on the Internet and at brick-and-mortar stores. Kratom is often used to self-treat conditions such as pain, coughing, diarrhea, anxiety and depression, opioid use disorder, and opioid withdrawal. In lower doses, kratom can have energizing effects, but in higher doses it can act as a depressent.Â
The student consumed the supplement with a soda and proceeded to his next class where he began to show signs of distress.Â
A student resource officer responded to the classroom and found the student unresponsive with a rapid heartbeat, shallow breathing and an elevated body temperature. The resource officer performed a sternum rub and the student regained consciousness.Â
The student was taken to a local hospital for treatment and observation.Â
Kennedy was later questioned and admitted to giving the student the supplement. He also admitted that he knew it contained kratom.Â
On May 16, an arrest warrant was issued, and Kennedy turned himself in. He faces a misdemeanor charge of furnishing a Kratom product to a minor. His bond was set at $500.
