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The Folding Chair podcast examines the case of Marshall Ray Price, who died after what officials say was a consensual boxing match with another inmate at Greene County Jail in Paragould, Arkansas in December 2022. We recently spoke with Price's daughter Julian about her fight for justice and decriminalization efforts.

Marshall Ray Price died at a local hospital while in custody of the Greene County Sheriffs Department on December 8, 2022.  Price’s injuries were said to be the result of a consensual boxing match in jail. The other “boxer” was said to have toilet paper and socks wrapped on his hands and hit Price twice. This is not consistent with witness testimony. Price died a very violent and painful death. The Sheriffs narrative and outcome is linked here give it a read yourselves. https://neareport.com/2023/03/14/no-charges-in-marshall-price-jail-death/

According to the coroner Price died of a ruptured spleen, multiple broken ribs, a brain stem injury and other injuries that are not consistent with a two punch boxing match. Price was only 2 weeks in on a 10 year sentence for possessing kratom, a supplement that’s legal ten minutes from his home another state over. Witnesses in the jail said they heard Price calling for help for 5 hours before help arrived and the manner in which Price was treated by medical staff was cruel and inhumane. Price died before his family was even notified.  

We believe possession of kratom should not result in prison time for anyone, kratom can be used for pain relief, management of opioid withdrawal, depression relief, mood enhancement, energy etc. Price was possession of kratom to sober up after a 20 year addiction when he was arrested in Greene County, kratom is legal minutes away in Missouri. Mitragyna speciosa (commonly known as kratom, a herbal leaf from a tree of the Rubiaceae family is a tropical evergreen tree in the coffee family native to Southeast Asia. It is indigenous to Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Papua New Guinea, where it has been used in herbal medicine since at least the 19th century. It has opioid properties and some stimulant effects. #KeepKratomSafe