There was no saving Clark Whitehouse, Yukon coroner Sharon Hanley and six jury members heard Tuesday.

Whitehouse, 34, died in RCMP custody after he consumed a large quantity of cocaine, an amount that was four times over the lethal dosage mark.

On Sept. 28, 2003, Whitehouse was arrested south of Whitehorse after having been chased down by RCMP Const. Paul Thalhofer.

The traffic cop tried to pull Whitehouse over when he noticed the man wasn't wearing a seat belt. The chase ended on foot, with Thalhofer Tasering Whitehouse at least three times to get him under control.

During that time, a white bag of cocaine had exploded, and Whitehouse took a bite of the drug.

A mouthful of cocaine, like the one Whitehouse ate, is lethal, testified Dr. Stuart Huckin. The toxicologist had found Whitehouse's blood contained 41 milligrams of cocaine per litre.

Even if Whitehouse had eaten that much cocaine in Whitehorse General Hospital in front of a doctor, there would be little hope of saving him, said Dr. Brendon Hanley, a specialist in emergency medicine who works at the hospital.

Cocaine is absorbed into the body relatively quickly compared to most other drugs, said Hanley.

If Whitehouse was to be saved, the doctors would only have a 10-minute window after the man had consumed the cocaine, and even then the situation would have still been grim.

Hanley said Whitehouse would have to drink charcoala substance that would absorb the drug instead of his body having to do so.

Most patients have to be talked into taking the awful-tasting drink, and even the willing have trouble downing it.

Often, doctors have to use a sedative to get the patient to comply. Once the person is subdued, the charcoal would be poured down his or her throat using a tube.

Hanley said it takes time to administer the mixture, and by that time, it could be too late.

It was suggested at the coroner's inquest that even if Emergency Medical Services (EMS) could administer charcoal a substance they don't carry when they arrived it wouldn't have done any good because that 10-minute window would have passed.

It took EMS close to half an hour to assist Whitehouse, who could be found not breathing on the South Klondike Highway, near the Lewes Lake Road, in the Carcross area.

Whitehouse had a history of cocaine use, the inquest heard.

His father, Jack Whitehouse, testified that Clark had overdosed on cocaine several years ago and had to be medivaced to Vancouver after experiencing trouble with his kidneys.

Hanley testified Whitehouse had been to the hospital several times to be treated in relation to his cocaine use.

On Aug. 8, 2003, Clark stated he had recently consumed five grams of cocaine and could no longer urinate.

He had been concerned that his kidneys were failing again, like they had during his first overdose.

On Sept. 19, 2003, just nine days before Clark died, he was brought into the hospital by police after he'd taken cocaine.

Hanley said Clark had appeared agitated that day and had to be restrained with handcuffs. To calm him down, hospital staff sedated him.

An hour or two before Clark died on Sept. 28, 2003, he appeared on his father's doorstep.

Jack told the inquest Clark was having difficulty breathing and was hunched over to one side. Clark told Jack that he had done himself in this time, so Jack suggested Clark go to the hospital.

Clark was to drive himself to the hospital, with Jack following close behind, but instead, Clark headed toward Robert Service Way and waved his father away.

An hour later or so later, Thalhofer would spot Clark on the South Klondike Highway.

When Thalhofer first had him in custody, Clark appeared to be fine. Even though he had been Tasered at least three times, Clark was able to answer the officer's questions and walk to the police cruiser without assistance.

Although Thalhofer testified that he only deployed his Taser three times, his weapon recorded that it had been fired five times while he was dealing with Clark.

When Jack asked Thalhofer why his Taser had displayed this number, Thalhofer said he had no idea.

Eyewitness Katy Delau said she only saw Thalhofer use his Taser twice.

Delau saw most of the foot chase and the Tasering from her trailer window, as the whole incident occurred on her property off the Lewes Lake Road.

Thalhofer said he Tasered Clark a second time after the man was still failing to obey police orders.

Delau likely saw the two Taser shots that Thalhofer fired from a distance, the inquest heard.

Thalhofer later bent down and touch-Tasered Clark the third time after Clark had taken a bite of cocaine.

It was while Thalhofer was transporting Clark back to Whitehorse that Clark began to stop breathing and Thalhofer began administering CPR.

Jack suggested that CPR had not been administered to his son properly because Clark's hands were handcuffed behind his back.

The father suggested that in order for CPR to be administered properly, Clark would have to be lying flat on his back in order to have chest compressions administered properly.

Jack said that because Clark's arms were behind his back, the CPR did not work as affectively as it could have.

EMS worker Christine McKay and Hanley said the handcuffs likely didn't get in the way, because Clark's hands were tucked under the small of his back.

They said that enough of the shoulders and enough of the back would be flat on the ground to likely allow for proper CPR.

Const. Brian White, who kept checking Clark's vitals while Thalhofer and Cpl. Rod Hamilton administered CPR, said they didn't remove the handcuffs because they were too busy doing the CPR.

'I didn't see the handcuffs as an obstacle,' said White.

Thalhofer's lawyer, Edward Horembala, said that regardless of whether CPR was done properly, Clark would have died out on the South Klondike Highway anyway because of the large amount of cocaine he'd consumed.

While police gave Clark CPR, they noticed that he had turned a bluish colour.

Thalhofer said that when he first put Clark in the car, the man showed no signs of duress.

However, John MacDougall, Delau's husband, who also witnessed the incident, said when Clark was arrested, his face was tense and in a grimace.

MacDougall later saw Clark rocking back in forth in the police car while Thalhofer was giving instructions to the other officers who arrived on the scene.

When MacDougall pointed out the rocking to an officer, he was told the man was on drugs.

'He didn't seem too concerned,' MacDougall said about the officer.

Delau's neighbour, David Brown, a former RCMP officer, said he saw Clark weeping at the time of his arrest.

Jack is at the inquest without a lawyer. He said no local lawyer would represent him. That's why he sometimes gets into difficulty with the inquest lawyers representing the RCMP and the territory.

Jack sometimes states guiding opinions in front of the jury, instead of questioning the witnesses like he is supposed to at this stage in the proceedings.

'It is really hard without a lawyer,' Jack said. 'I hope I'm not getting too far out of line here.'

Though the inquest is taking place in the Yukon Supreme Court, it is not a criminal proceeding. The jury examines the circumstances around the death and normally produces recommendations to help avoid a recurrence.

Though Clark grew up in Whitehorse, he was living in B.C. at the time he died.