ORLANDO, Fla. – Florida First Lady Casey DeSantis and Lt. Gov. Jay Collins joined law enforcement officials on Tuesday to announce a statewide operation cracking down on the sale of nitrous oxide.
Nitrous oxide is a colorless gas — often used for sedation — which is also known as “laughing gas.” However, it can also be used to get “high,” according to the Alcohol and Drug Foundation. It is also used in dispensers to make whipped cream fluffy, according to a report by Yale University.
“ABT, along with FDLE, has done nearly 70 felony arrests, 16 warrants we’ve issued our retailers for poisoning our children," FDLE Commissioner Mark Glass said at the department’s Orlando regional operational center.
Glass also stated that law enforcement officials have seized over 63,000 fentanyl pills in the state, calling the drug a weapon of mass destruction.
“It really, really angers me that you have people out there selling this, distributing it, knowing that it’s going to cause harm or knowing and just not caring that this could end the life of a young person,” Casey DeSantis said. “And yet they continue to do it.”
In August, an undercover operation by agents with Florida’s Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco led to the arrests of clerks at two separate smoke shops in Orlando.
Michael McKellar, 35, and Sebastian Cook, 25, each face a charge of selling/distributing 16 grams or more of nitrous oxide.
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News 6 community Correspondent Mike Valente asked officials why nitrous oxide is still available on smoke shop shelves and if legislation is needed to address the problem
“It could be looked at and addressed,” said Director Jerome Worley with the Florida DBPR Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco. “One thing is, why is there nitrous oxide being sold in a smoke shop? I’m sure that dentists doesn’t go by there to the smoke shop to get his nitrous oxide for dentistry, and automotive shop doesn’t go there, and neither does a chef or a cook.”
In November 2024, a 29-year-old Lake County woman died behind a smoke shop. Her family said it was because of her addiction to nitrous oxide products.
The woman who passed away was Margaret Caldwell, whose family has since hired the Orlando-based Morgan and Morgan law firm to prevent “future tragedies.”
Caldwell’s sister, Leigh Caldwell, also spoke on Tuesday.
“Meg lost her life because of an addiction to nitrous oxide,” Leigh Caldwell said. “It’s often sold in canisters labeled not for inhalation. But the truth is, manufacturers and smoke shops know exactly what is happening.”