Opioid Deaths Down; Nitrous Oxide Emergencies Up

The Michigan Poison and Drug Information Center (MiPDC) reports calls about nitrous oxide (N₂O) use and its adverse health effects increased by 533% from 2019 to 2024:

https://www.michigan.gov/mdhhs/inside-mdhhs/newsroom/2025/06/04/nitrous-oxide

Health emergencies linked to recreational nitrous oxide use increase significantly
By Laina Stebbins - June 04, 2025

LANSING, Mich. – The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) is warning residents about a dramatic increase in emergency health care incidents related to recreational use of nitrous oxide or “laughing gas” in Michigan.

Calls to the Michigan Poison and Drug Information Center (MiPDC) involving recreational nitrous oxide use and its adverse health effects increased by 533% from 2019 to 2024. Emergency medical service responses related to nitrous oxide misuse increased by 553% in that same time frame, and emergency department visits also increased by 757% from 2019 to 2023.

“The drug landscape is constantly changing and the increases in nitrous oxide misuse are concerning, given the widespread availability of the product and the increase in multiple substance use,” said Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, chief medical executive. “It is crucial that individuals who use nitrous oxide are aware of the risks of chronic use and take steps to reduce its harms.”

Nitrous oxide is used in medical settings as an anesthetic and analgesic, as well as commercially in steel aerosol whipped cream dispensers. It can be bought online or at grocery and convenience stores and smoke/vape shops. Nitrous oxide products come in a variety of flavors and are often marketed to young individuals.

Nitrous oxide is used recreationally because it is widely available and can induce euphoria, relaxation and a hallucinogenic state. However, chronic use can have serious adverse health effects. As of 2024, state law prohibits the sale of objects specifically designed for recreational nitrous oxide use.

“This is a serious public health problem. At the MiPDC, our consultants are encountering a significant increase in cases involving neurological and cardiovascular effects related to the recreational use of nitrous oxide,” said Dr. Varun Vohra, MiPDC senior director and clinical toxicologist. “Individuals who use nitrous oxide and clinicians who treat them should be aware of the symptoms and long-term risks associated with chronic recreational misuse.”

Frequent or long-term use can lead to severe neurological damage and negative psychiatric effects. Symptoms can include weakness, numbness/tingling, loss of sensations in arms or legs, memory impairment, delusions, depression and mood changes. Severe effects can include hypoxia (low oxygen in blood) and asphyxiation.

Anyone who notices concerning symptoms after using nitrous oxide recreationally should immediately stop and seek emergency medical care. Individuals can also call the MiDPC anytime at 800-222-1222 for more information or consultation with board-certified toxicologists.

For more information, see this recent Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report publication.

Comprehensive substance use disorder (SUD) services are offered throughout Michigan to support the health and well-being of residents impacted by SUDs. Additional information is available at Michigan.gov/SUD.

WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia in three overall categories:

1) Drug Use & Addiction

2) Law Enforcement

3) Drug Health Issues & Rehabilitation

Michigan's 2025 national ranking was 11th in a report which is way too long and complex to repost here:

https://wallethub.com/edu/drug-use-by-state/35150

BridgeMI goes into more detail about how the national opioid settlement funds have been used to distribute Naloxone, reducing opioid deaths, but not necessarily opioid addiction rates:

https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-health-watch/steep-drop-michigan-overdose-deaths-thanks-part-narcan

A steep drop in Michigan overdose deaths, thanks in part to Narcan
By Robin Erb - June 6, 2025

*   Drug overdose deaths fell by 1,000, or about 34%, in 2024, according to provisional state data.
*   That’s an unprecedented drop, and a steeper decrease than the national average
*   State leaders, as well as providers, credit opioid settlement dollars that have expanded efforts in prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery

About 1,000 fewer Michiganders died last year of overdoses compared to 2023 — an unprecedented decline in a state where, until recently, opioids claimed someone every four hours.

It’s the third consecutive year of declines. There were 1,927 deaths last year compared to 2,931 in 2023, according to provisional data by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

The drop coincides with a national decline in drug deaths, as reported recently by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Still, the state decline of 34% is much steeper than the national decline of 27%, and it comes after two years of only moderate improvement in Michigan.

If the final case counts stand once they’re all reviewed, it will be the first time the state will have recorded fewer than 2,000 deaths since 2015.

“This is exceptional news,” said Dr. Kanzoni Asabigi, vice president of the Detroit Recovery Project, a Detroit-based nonprofit that provides outpatient support services for substance use and mental health disorders.

“It’s huge,” agreed Nancy King, a long-time harm-reduction advocate. Her daughter died of an overdose, and King founded the COPE Network, a Kalamazoo-based harm reduction organization.

The drop is the result of “sustained, strategic investment in prevention, treatment, recovery, and harm-reduction efforts” supported, in part, by the state’s share of funds from national opioid settlements, according to a statement released by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.

Several providers agreed, noting that the drop in deaths occurs alongside an increase in free naloxone, an emergency medication used to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, and other resources.

Making Narcan more accessible

For its part, Harm Reduction Michigan has added 122 naloxone distribution sites since October, bringing the current total to 294 sites, said executive director Pam Lynch. The Traverse City-based group does work throughout Michigan, and it received a $280,000 state grant in the fall to pay part-time workers to distribute naloxone, also sold under the brand name, Narcan.

The newspaper-box style dispensers are located throughout Michigan's rural and urban areas, allowing people with substance use disorder, or their loved ones — parents, siblings, spouses, friends and even children of parents who use opioids — to have kits on hand in crisis, Lynch said.

The Harm Reduction Michigan workers and volunteers who fill the boxes are often in recovery themselves, have come close to losing someone or have lost someone, so they are especially passionate about keeping distribution sites stocked with naloxone kits, she said.

The grant provides “people who get paid 20 hours, but who put in maybe 30 hours because if they don’t, people die,” Lynch said.

Michigan state and local governments have used some of their opioid settlement funds to distribute more than 1.3 million naloxone kits, with nearly 34,000 reported uses to reverse overdoses and save lives.

The funds have paid for other crucial efforts, said Lynch and Detroit’s Asabigi.

“The easy access to Narcan — to free Narcan — has been really helpful,” Asabigi said, “But there is no single answer.”

The expansion of medication assisted treatment in jails, also funded, in part, by settlement dollars, has provided treatment to inmates and a smoother transition to further treatment when they are released, he said.

Meanwhile, peer-recovery coaches have been able to access emergency rooms to offer help to users, and the expanded availability of drug test strips has helped detect the presence of fentanyl and other particularly dangerous additives in the drug supply, he said.

“All these things — major and minor — add up,” he said.

But providers also said they were concerned about future success, as the future of staffing and funds from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration, commonly known as SAMHSA, are cast into uncertainty, as well as Medicaid dollars, which help pay for services.

“We have this huge drop (in deaths,) and that’s great,” said King, at the COPE Network in Kalamazoo.

But she noted that a drop in deaths doesn’t necessarily equate to a drop in drug use. Naloxone helps reduce deaths only; supporting the entire fight against drugs — from prevention to recovery — takes additional spending.

“The goal is to keep getting better, and not go in the other direction,” she said.

Fentanyl (the drug implicated in most current opioid overdoses and deaths) smuggling is well down at America's southern border.  Will this further reduce opioid overdoses and deaths?

https://nypost.com/2025/06/03/us-news/washington-post-mocked-after-reporting-on-mysterious-decline-in-fentanyl-crossing-the-border/

Washington Post mocked after reporting on ‘mysterious’ decline in fentanyl crossing the border
By Peter Pinedo, Fox News - June 3, 2025

The Washington Post is being mocked online and by the White House for “pathetic” reporting on what the liberal-leaning news outlet calls a “mysterious” decline in fentanyl flowing across the border.

Fentanyl is a dangerous drug that is often trafficked into the United States across the southern and northern borders by cartels and other criminal elements.

In 2024, fentanyl was linked to the deaths of 48,422 persons in the United States, according to the CDC.

During his campaign, President Trump vowed to wage a war against fentanyl traffickers through increased border security and by cracking down on illegal immigration.

Since taking office, Trump has deployed US troops to the southern border, targeted cartels and transnational criminal groups as “foreign terrorist organizations” and hit cartel leaders with sanctions.

According to the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), US law enforcement seizures of fentanyl, which the group explains is a “key indicator of broader total smuggling at and between the southern border’s ports of entry,” have dropped 50% since the November election.

CIS states that this significant decline indicates a “greater decline in total fentanyl smuggling.”

The Washington Post reports on this decline, stating that US seizures at the southern border are down by almost 30 percent compared with the same period in 2024.

The outlet, however, states that the drop “represents something of a mystery.”

The Washington Post states that US seizures at the southern border are down by almost 30 percent compared with the same period in 2024.
@DHSgov/X

“After years of confiscating rising amounts of fentanyl, the opioid that has fueled the most lethal drug epidemic in American history, U.S. officials are confronting a new and puzzling reality at the Mexican border. Fentanyl seizures are plummeting,” wrote the Post.

Among the possible reasons listed by the outlet are cartels finding other ways to smuggle the drug into the US, cartel internal strife, ingredient shortages and a possible decline in demand.

Though baffled by the reason for the decline, the Washington Post posited that “public health authorities are concerned that the Trump administration’s budget cuts could hurt programs that have promoted overdose antidotes and addiction treatment.”

The article was widely mocked by conservatives online.

Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-Wis.) commented on X, “The Washington Post is reporting a ‘mysterious drop’ in fentanyl seizures at the southern border. Mystery solved! The Trump effect is working.”

Charlie Kirk, a popular conservative influencer, also commented, saying: “Four months into the Trump administration, The Washington Post is marveling at the ‘mysterious’ drop in fentanyl seizures on the Mexican border … Is the Post simply lying, or are their reporters as dumb as the people they’re writing propaganda for?”

The Department of Homeland Security’s official X account also replied, commenting: “It’s no mystery. On day one, [President] Trump closed our borders to drug traffickers.”

DHS said that “from March 2024 to March 2025 fentanyl traffic at the southern border fell by 54%.”

“The world has heard the message loud and clear,” said DHS.

Several top White House spokespersons also weighed in. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt simply called the Post “pathetic,” and communications director Steven Cheung said: “They can’t stand that President Trump’s strong border policies have led to a DECREASE in fentanyl coming into the U.S.”

Abigail Jackson, another White House spokeswoman, told Fox News Digital that “the drop in fentanyl seizures at the border is only a mystery to Washington Post reporters suffering from Trump-Derangement Syndrome.”

“As of March, fentanyl traffic at the Southern Border had fallen by more than half from the same time last year – while Joe Biden’s open border was still terrorizing America,” said Jackson. “Everyone else knows the simple truth: President Trump closed our border to illegal drug traffickers and Americans are safer because of it.”

The Washington Post did not immediately respond to a request by Fox News Digital for comment.

Nitrous oxide deaths up climbed nearly sevenfold -- 578% -- between 2010 and 2023 across the country.  In 2023, 156 people died from huffing nitrous oxide in America:

https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2025/08/02/deaths-young-people-laughing-gas/6551754163724/

Fatal risks from 'laughing gas' use climb among youth
By Ernie Mundell - August 2, 2025

It's no laughing matter: Kids and teens across America are increasingly inhaling nitrous oxide, better known as "laughing gas," to get high.

Too often, this ends in tragedy.

U.S. deaths linked to misuse of the common, legal inhalant climbed nearly sevenfold -- 578% -- between 2010 and 2023, a new report finds.

In 2023, 156 Americans, many of them children, died from huffing nitrous oxide, according to a new study.

"This is not local to one area; it's everywhere," said study co-author Andrew Yockey, assistant professor of public health at the University of Mississippi.

"And it absolutely deserves national surveillance," he added in a news release. "The numbers are still small right now, but they're growing and they're growing fast."

There are no age restrictions on buying nitrous oxide, and it "is available online and in gas stations across the country, so, these products become an easy way to get high, and the companies know that," Yockey said.

"How long do we have to wait before we consider this a problem?" he asked.

His team published its findings July 30 in JAMA Network Open.

Nitrous oxide, often referred to as "whippets," is usually sold in canisters and access appears to be growing.

"From about 2020 on, you really started to see two things: nitrous oxide products appearing in gas stations, online, etc., and then in 2023, the U.K. banned nitrous oxide," Yockey said. "I think that's when some of those products started creeping in globally."

He noted that many nitrous oxide products come in flavors that are especially enticing to kids: Berries or cotton candy, for example. Products often come with flavored nozzles.

"These flavored nozzles -- bubblegum, mango -- tell me these aren't being marketed to kids?" Yockey said.

Unsurprisingly, kids and teens are most prone to experimenting with nitrous oxide. In fact, eighth-graders make up a big proportion of users, the research showed.

However, use comes with risks: Blood clots, frostbite, asphyxiation, heart palpitations, hallucinations and even paralysis, brain damage or death, according to the study authors.

The research focused on 14 years of U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data on nitrous oxide-related deaths.

Fatalities were rare and relatively stable until about 2010, when there were 23 deaths nationwide. But after that point, death rates began to climb.

"What's especially concerning is how accessible and deceptively safe nitrous oxide seems," said study co-author Rachel Hoopsick, assistant professor of health and kinesiology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

"It's legal, easy to buy and often viewed as harmless. But frequent or high-volume use can lead to serious neurological damage, psychiatric symptoms or even death."

She said researchers are particularly worried about young people experimenting without understanding the risks.

"The rise in harm calls for not only prevention," Hoopsick said in a news release, "But also stronger harm-reduction strategies."

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration did issue a warning earlier this year, highlighting the dangers of inhaling nitrous oxide.

That warning lists 15 nitrous oxide products, with names like Baking Bad, Cloud 9ine, Cosmic Gas and Whip-It!, but Yockey and Hoopsick are convinced there are dozens more.

"We started researching nitrous oxide misuse after seeing headlines about young people dying from what many believed was a harmless substance," Hoopsick said. "Around the same time, we were both hearing anecdotal reports of nitrous oxide use among students on our respective campuses. These weren't just isolated incidents; they pointed to a larger, overlooked public health issue."

Much more needs to be done to get the word out to parents and kids that "laughing gas" is far from harmless, the team said.

"Public awareness is far behind where it needs to be," Hoopsick said. "Most people -- including parents, educators and even some health care providers -- don't realize how common nitrous oxide use has become or how dangerous it can be.

"I want them to know that legal doesn't mean safe and that early, nonjudgmental conversations can make a real difference," she added.