The Holliston Drug & Alcohol Awareness Coalition held its year-end celebration at Restaurant 45 in Medway on June 18, highlighting its annual reach. According to its last newsletter, among other updates, the coalition recently held an event educating community members on a product called Kratom. As it reported, "Guest speaker, Holly Trouville, came to share her story of losing her son to Kratom at age 25 just two years ago. Some highlights from her presentation included:

• Her son's death linked to a kratom seltzer marketed as "safe"

• Different forms of kratom: powders, capsules, extracts, beverages

• Extracts are highly concentrated and increase risk of addiction and tolerance

• Lack of regulation and oversight in the U.S. kratom market

• Poison control data: ~8,500 kratom exposures over six years, including severe outcomes

• $8.75 million settlement involving a kratom-related company

• High prevalence of Kratom use among individuals in recovery

• Growing number of local bans, approximately 10% of MA municipalities have banned kratom

To learn more about HDAAC, visit www.hdaac.org or find them on Facebook and Instagram.