A welfare check by his parents during the week of September 7-13 led to the discovery that 29-year-old adult film performer Christian Styles had died at his Canton Township, Michigan home, and the Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office has since determined the cause: a lethal combination of alcohol and mitragynine, the primary active compound in kratom. His blood alcohol level measured 0.168, with caffeine and numerous other drugs also found in his system.
Styles, whose legal name was Zachary Christian Jaghab, was killed by heavy drinking combined with excessive amounts of kratom, according to the New York Daily News. Canton Township Police opened a death investigation after Jaghab was found at his home following a call to authorities from his family, according to TMZ, which reported that local police investigated alongside the Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office.
A Career Built on Social Media Reach
Jaghab began working in adult entertainment in 2021 and went on to build a following of more than a million people across social media and OnlyFans, per the same account from the New York Daily News. In 2023, he won a fan-voted GayVN Award for Favorite All-Male Creator Collab alongside performer Chris Damned, professional recognition that The Advocate says reflected his standing in the adult content creation industry.
The New York Daily News reports that an autopsy obtained by TMZ found Jaghab had previously used heroin and methamphetamine heavily, had abused drugs for 13 years, and had overdosed before. The same autopsy indicated he had recently been on a bender and had prior run-ins with the law.
Funeral Held Amid Family Hardship
Details of funeral services for Jaghab were not provided. A GoFundMe memorial fundraiser set up by a family friend after his death revealed that both of his parents were battling cancer while arranging the funeral, a detail Attitude Magazine reported underscored the family's mounting financial and emotional strain during a period of medical bills.
Why Alcohol and Kratom Are a Dangerous Mix
Mitragynine is an alkaloid that occurs in trace amounts in the leaves of the kratom tree, Mitragyna speciosa, which is prevalent in Southeast Asia, where people have used kratom for centuries as a home remedy, typically by chewing the leaves or making tea, according to the New York Daily News. In the United States, kratom processors increase the concentration of mitragynine and its derivatives, and the resulting products, including pills, tablets, powders, concentrated liquid extracts, tinctures and gummy candies, are sold at CBD retail outlets, gas stations, smoke shops and online.
Toxicological research shows that combining alcohol with kratom creates a synergistic central nervous system depression, since alcohol acts on GABA receptors while kratom's active alkaloids bind to mu-opioid receptors, according to Pathways Recovery. That combination drastically elevates the risk of fatal respiratory failure, and severe sedation can mask the warning signs of an overdose before it is too late.
Federal and Local Crackdowns Accelerate
Health officials have long warned about the potentially harmful side effects of kratom, and federal regulators have moved this year to tighten oversight of its most potent forms. On July 1, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services announced a notice of intent to temporarily place concentrated 7-hydroxymitragynine, known as 7-OH, above specified thresholds into Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, which cited growing public safety hazards from enhanced 7-OH products.
The U.S. Department of Justice followed with an emergency order on August 25 placing three synthetic opioid compounds chemically derived from kratom alkaloids—mitragynine pseudoindoxyl, MGM-15 and MGM-16—into Schedule I, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, which said the action responded to a developing market and protected public safety. Federal survey data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration shows roughly 1.7 million Americans aged 12 and older used kratom in 2021, with about 1.6 million users recorded in 2023, per the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.
FDA health tracking documented more than 2,000 kratom-involved overdoses between 2020 and 2022, with nearly half of those cases involving kratom as the sole detected substance, per Pathways Recovery. Locally, the Albany County Department of Health in New York issued an emergency public health order on August 24, taking effect September 1, banning all retail sales and distribution of kratom products, citing severe risks from opioid-like toxicity and unregulated product strength — part of an accelerating pattern of municipalities stepping in ahead of a finalized federal ban.
Separately, the New York Daily News notes that tianeptine, an antidepressant prescribed in numerous countries outside the United States but not approved domestically, shares characteristics with kratom and other synthetic kratom-like products considered potentially dangerous. The term “gas station heroin” mainly applies to tianeptine, while kratom-related products are sold at gas stations and smoke shops.
