No laughing matter as councils warn of potentially lethal drug

A national public health warning is being issued by councils about ‘laughing gas’ as they launch a crackdown on the potentially lethal drug.

The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents almost 400 councils in England and Wales – who took over responsibility for public health last year, says local authorities up and down the country are seizing hauls of canisters and highlighting the dangers of the gas. Warning postcards have been distributed to pupils at some schools and youth clubs. The drug – a favourite among some celebrities – has been linked with a number of deaths and is used by almost half a million young people across the country – equivalent to a city the size of Liverpool.

The LGA is particularly concerned that internet clips, self-filmed by children abusing the drug and uploaded onto YouTube, are glamourising it and wants the web giants to introduce health warnings and links to drug awareness charities. Online chat rooms discuss the best websites for users to buy laughing gas – which is regularly taken at nightspots, festivals and parties – and Facebook and Twitter users openly advertise delivery ‘to your door’.

The warning come after more than 20 music festivals chiefs announced that traders at their events selling so-called ‘legal highs’, including laughing gas, would be banned.

Laughing gas – real name nitrous oxide – is legally and safely used to numb pain during medical procedures such as dental work. However, it is also a hugely popular ‘party’ drug, with users inhaling it from balloons. This can lead to hypoxia (oxygen deprivation), resulting in loss of blood pressure, fainting and even heart attacks. Prolonged exposure can cause anaemia, bone marrow suppression and poisoning of the central nervous system. These risks are heightened if it is combined with drink or other drugs.

Abusing nitrous oxide can be fatal. In the last few weeks, a 25-year-old south Londoner drowned at a festival in the south of France after reportedly taking it. Earlier this year, it claimed the life of a 21-year-old chef, from Worcestershire, soon after finding out he was to become a father for the first time. A promising art student, 17, from north London, also suffered a cardiac arrest and died after reportedly inhaling it.

Cllr Katie Hall, Chair of the LGA’s Community Wellbeing Board, said:”It is deeply disturbing that this drug, which can be highly dangerous, is still widely viewed as safe.

“It is imperative that users understand just how harmful it can be. This gas can kill – and much more needs to be done to get this message across.

“We are particularly concerned about internet pages and uploaded clips which are effectively ‘promoting’ this as a harmless drug. The web giants must do more to crack down on this – they cannot simply sit on their hands and ignore what is happening on their own sites.

“We are calling on the big internet corporations to step up to the plate and show responsibility by providing health warnings and links to drug awareness charities. It is wholly unacceptable that this craze is being glamourised and encouraged in this way.”

Council case studies

LB Hackney
More than 1,200 canisters of the chemical were seized in just one night outside the pubs and clubs of Shoreditch, east London, in the last few weeks.
http://news.hackney.gov.uk/laughing-gas/

Windsor and Maidenhead
A ‘concerning’ number of calls have been made by worried parents, who have found nitrous oxide cartridges in their children’s clothing or bedrooms, to the Royal Borough’s Young People’s Drug and Alcohol Team (YPDAAT). A nitrous oxide information postcard aimed at young people was produced by the YPDAAT and widely distributed to pupils at some schools and youth clubs when discarded cartridges were discovered.
www.rbwm.gov.uk/web/news_5413_nitrous_oxide_warning_from%20DAAT.htm

Chelmsford
Patrols by police and checks to tackle nitrous oxide and other ‘legal highs’ are being stepped up by police and Trading Standards officers at two popular music festivals, Brownstock and V, following a fatality last year at Brownstock. This was linked with a ‘legal high’ called 5-EAPB – a derivative of the designer drug ‘Benzo Fury’. The man-made drug was legal at the time but is now banned. The warning comes from Essex County Council, Chelmsford City Council and Essex Police.
www.chelmsford.gov.uk/community/news/legal-highs-and-laughing-gas-warning

Norfolk
Norfolk County Council is warning of the dangers of nitrous oxide following the discovery of a number of cartridges of the gas in the Prince of Wales Road area of Norwich.
www.norfolk.gov.uk/news/NCC124925