LANSING, Mich. — Michigan has seen a significant decrease in opioid overdose deaths since 2021, but advocates and families affected by the crisis say the battle is far from over.
- Michigan opioid deaths dropped 34% between 2023 and 2024, with overdose responses down 19.2% as of November 2025.
- Jerry Norris lost his daughter Daniella to overdose in 2017 and now distributes free Narcan through The Fledge in Lansing.
- Narcan vending machines are expanding statewide following Governor Whitmer's 2022 executive order to increase treatment access.
Jerry Norris lost his daughter Daniella to an overdose in 2017. The facility where his daughter was staying at the time of her overdose did not have Narcan readily available.
"It starts with my daughter becoming an opioid addict when she was very young," Norris said. "She overdosed and passed away."
The loss has motivated Norris to join efforts to distribute Narcan, the life-saving overdose reversal medication.
"I wish we would've been able to do that with my daughter. I'd give anything," Norris said. "I would hate to be somewhere and not have Narcan and watch someone die from an overdose."
According to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, opioid deaths have decreased by 34% between 2023 and 2024. As of November 2025, probable opioid overdose responses are down by 19.2%.
As part of the effort to decrease deaths, Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed an executive order in 2022 to increase access to treatment. Over the years, Narcan vending machines have appeared across neighborhoods, with the latest installed at U-M Health Sparrow Clinton in St. Johns.
"The government did a really good job at making sure that they got it out there," Norris said.
Norris is the founder of The Fledge in Lansing and has been providing free Narcan for anyone since 2018.
"Anything we can do to help somebody take another breath and making it to the day that they will go into treatment or be successful in recovery," Norris said.
For Norris, the work is personal. He believes Narcan could have saved his daughter's life.
"If they had had Narcan in the facility she was in, she may still be alive today," Norris said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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