Politics

Oregon bills aim to prevent inhalant abuse as 30 die in 3 years

By Bryce Dole (OPB )
May 1, 2025 10:46 p.m.

The products are commonly available in stores, but advocates say a growing number of people are abusing inhalants.

Oregon legislators are considering two bills aimed at preventing the abuse of inhalants, specifically nitrous oxide and difluoroethane, which is commonly used in aerosol dusters.

Oregon legislators are considering two bills aimed at preventing the abuse of inhalants, specifically nitrous oxide and difluoroethane, which is commonly used in aerosol dusters.

Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB

At least 30 people in Oregon died after inhaling nitrous oxide and a gas commonly used in aerosol dusters from 2021 through 2024, according to the Oregon Health Authority.

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Hoping to curb overdoses and deaths, lawmakers have advanced two bills through the Oregon Legislature this year that would prohibit selling products to young people that could be abused as inhalants. The bills have bipartisan support.

House Bill 3447 would require businesses that sell nitrous oxide canisters to verify that a buyer is over the age of 18. It has passed through both chambers of the Legislature and is on its way to Gov. Tina Kotek’s desk.

Senators passed Senate Bill 1032 in a 22-6 vote last week. The bill prohibits the sale of aerosol dusters containing 1,1-Difluoroethane, or DFE, to people under the age of 18. It would also implement harsher warning labels, limit the number of products a person can buy, and require that products remain out of public reach. It’s being reviewed by the House Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection, with a hearing scheduled May 6.

Huffing such products gives people a brief high and has caught interest among young people on social media. Though they come with warning labels, the products are often available in stores like Home Depot, Walmart and Staples.

Oregon legislators are considering two bills aimed at preventing the abuse of inhalants, specifically nitrous oxide and difluoroethane, which is commonly used in aerosol dusters.

Oregon legislators are considering two bills aimed at preventing the abuse of inhalants, specifically nitrous oxide and difluoroethane, which is commonly used in aerosol dusters.

Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB

Nitrous oxide — long used as a party drug — is a laughing gas commonly used as a sedative in dental and medical procedures, and as a food additive in cans of whipped cream. Sprays containing DFE are often used as a refrigerant and a computer duster.

State health officials do not routinely track deaths linked to either gas, a spokesperson for the Oregon Health Authority said. However, state health officials who reviewed overdose death certificate data found 20 connected to inhaling DFE and 10 tied to nitrous oxide between 2021 and 2024.

The youngest victim, 24, had inhaled DFE; the oldest, 82, had inhaled nitrous oxide. Half of the nitrous oxide deaths were suicides, according to the state data. Almost all of those who inhaled DFE died unintentionally.

The number of nitrous oxide-related calls to the Oregon Poison Center has increased sharply, rising from five in 2015 to 42 in 2024, according to Oregon Health & Science University. Of the 123 total calls during that time, about one-third involved people ages 20 to 29. Eight calls involved teens.

In addition, the poison center reported 133 cases during that time period involving propellants, which would include DFE found in dusters. Overall, cases have trended downward since 2017, “but we did see an uptick from four cases in 2023 to 10 in 2024,” Erik Robinson, an OHSU spokesperson.

Advocates say the legislation would be a step toward preventing the rising problem of inhalant abuse.

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“Very few people know about it,” said Ray Thomas, a retired lawyer who supports the senate bill. “And then, once you find out about it, you realize, ‘Oh my goodness. This is really a problem.’”

To Thomas, the issue is personal: In October 2020, Joleen Braasch-Berry, a family friend and library aide for Salem-Keizer Public Schools, was killed after authorities say William Justin Chambers purchased a duster containing DFE from a Home Depot. Law enforcement say he huffed it in the parking lot, drove away and struck and killed Braasch-Berry.

Joleen Braasch-Berry

Joleen Braasch-Berry

Submitted photo

Chambers was convicted of second-degree manslaughter and sentenced to more than six years in prison, according to court records. Braasch-Berry was 25.

“I’m hoping that we can get this bill passed this session so it can go into effect and protect people,” said Thomas.

Nationwide, from 2012 to 2021, more than 1,000 people died after inhaling aerosol duster products, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. In addition, authorities treated more than 21,700 injuries linked to the inhalant.

But Oregon Sen. Suzanne Weber, R-Tillamook, said that “since there’s no solid way of tracking this data, those numbers are likely severely understated.”

In a statement, Weber said most people are unaware of the risks of DFE. So, she said, “it’s no surprise that young people looking for a high hear about the sense of euphoria that inhaling this chemical can give you, the low price and easy accessibility and see it as a natural choice.”

Sen. David Brock Smith, R-Port Orford, said before last week’s vote that two people in his district have died after inhaling DFE. One of them, he said, “was a very dear friend of mine.”

During her speech last week, Sen. Lisa Reynolds, D-Portland, added: “Look, we know these products serve a legitimate purpose as a refrigerant or a cleaning agent, but this dark side is something we need to stand up and address.”

FILE - Lisa Reynolds speaks on the floor of the House at the Oregon State Capitol in Salem, Ore., March 20,. 2023.

FILE - Lisa Reynolds speaks on the floor of the House at the Oregon State Capitol in Salem, Ore., March 20,. 2023.

Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB

Claudia Dimit, whose son died after inhaling DFE, is the founder of Families United Against Inhalant Abuse, which advocates for policies to curb inhalant abuse. As she researched aerosol dusters, she said she found deaths reported in the 1970s.

“I was pretty much floored at how many people were dying from this, and how it was being totally ignored by everybody,” she said.

Dimit said that awareness around inhalants is growing as lawsuits have been filed against retailers and manufacturers. Several states have passed stricter laws around nitrous oxide in recent years. In Minnesota, lawmakers passed a similar law to the one being proposed in Oregon restricting access DFE.

“The industry now is kind of panicking like, ‘Oh, we didn’t do anything for all these years, and now they’re going to ban this chemical, so we have to change to another chemical we want to keep making duster,’” said Dimit.

Requiring that buyers show ID and limiting the numbers of products they can buy at one time could “make a dent” in the problem, Dimit said. However, Dimit added: “The majority of the deaths are over the age of 18.”

“I think the bill puts the product on notice so the public is aware of it, which I think is great,” said Dimit. “And you know it does make retailers have to check these people a little more carefully when they come through. So we’ll just have to see.”

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