Drugs, not Taser, caused Kingston man's death: coroner

August 10, 2004
CBC News

Ontario's chief coroner has ruled the death of a 43-year-old Kingston man was not caused by a Taser gun. Dr. Jim Cairns said the death of the man, who died hours after being shot with a Taser Sunday morning, was caused by a drug overdose.

"I can state categorically that the Taser did not play any role whatsoever in his death," Cairns said.

Police were called Sunday to a home in Kingston where a man had apparently overdosed on drugs and was threatening to harm himself.

He'd barricaded himself in a bedroom and was armed with a knife and a bat. Police first tried using pepper spray to subdue him without success. They then used a Taser gun.

The man was taken to Kingston General Hospital where he suffered a seizure and died several hours later.

Tasers emit a jolt of 50,000 volts that interrupt the body's electrical impulses, causing involuntary muscle seizures. Last year, Tasers were blamed in about 50 deaths in the United States. In Canada, five people have died from Taser shots.

Last week, B.C.'s Police Complaints Commissioner ordered an investigation into the use of Taser guns a month after a man died when he was shot with one in a hotel room in Vancouver.

In Ontario in July, a third man died when police used a stun gun to immobilize him at a hotel in Mississauga. The hotel receptionist had called police to report a man breaking things in his room.

Amnesty International has called for a ban on Tasers until further safety tests are done. The Arizona-based manufacturer of the weapons, Taser International, says the weapons are safe.