An initial drug screening report suggested Myles Gray had a natural psychoactive compound in his system when he died, but follow-up testing revealed a concentration that didn’t meet the threshold for detection, a forensic toxicologist told the British Columbia coroner’s inquest into the 33-year-old’s death.
Aaron Shapiro testified that he reviewed the original toxicology report and changed the finding for mitragynine, an extract from an Asian plant known as kratom.
“What this means is that the drug was either not present in the sample, or it means that the drug was present at a concentration that was below our instruments’ ability to detect it,” said Shapiro, testifying as an expert witness.
“Unfortunately I can’t tell the difference between those two scenarios.”
Gray died in August 2015 shortly after a beating by several Vancouver police officers that left him with injuries including a fractured eye socket, nose and rib, a crushed voice box and ruptured testicles.
A paramedic told the inquest this week the man’s bruising was so severe, he initially thought Gray was not Caucasian.
A statement from the BC Prosecution Service in December 2020 announcing its decision not to pursue charges against the officers involved in the struggle to arrest Gray noted that toxicology evidence showed he’d ingested kratom, and a pathologist found the drug may have been a contributing factor in his death.
Shapiro testified Wednesday that he changed the result of the initial toxicology report to reflect his finding that if the drug was present in Gray’s blood, it was not at a level that would be considered toxic or lethal.
He told the inquest in Burnaby, B.C., that the general screening performed at the time of Gray’s death looked for “well over 200” different drugs with the goal of flagging potential findings, but it should not be used on its own as evidence.
“It just gives you an idea that you might want to look further into it,” said Shapiro, who is the associate scientific director of toxicology at the BC Centre for Disease Control.
Shapiro told the inquest kratom can have different effects, but in general, it’s a stimulant similar to caffeine when taken in lower amounts.
At higher concentrations, it can have an opioid-like effect, and it also interacts with dopamine and serotonin, with the potential for effects similar to those of some antipsychotic and antidepressant drugs as well, he said.
It’s consumed recreationally around the world, with some people using it to self-medicate for conditions such as depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder, Shapiro said.
The inquest has heard Gray was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in about 1999 but had been stable since then.
Shapiro said the general screening for Gray also detected a substance formed in the body after the consumption of THC, the main psychoactive compound in cannabis.
However, he said further testing to confirm the finding and determine the potential concentration of THC in Gray’s system was not performed, and Gray’s samples have since been destroyed in accordance with the lab’s standard practices.
If the THC finding had been confirmed, it would have indicated prior cannabis use within a month before Gray’s death, Shapiro said.
The lab also screened for several anabolic steroids, but nothing was confirmed, and it did not have the ability to detect a number of other steroids at the time, he said.
A pathologist and personnel from the Independent Investigations Office are among those expected to testify before the inquest is scheduled to conclude on Friday.
An inquest jury isn’t able to make findings of legal responsibility but it may make recommendations to prevent similar deaths in the future.