Nitrous oxide misuse: Tighter controls on the sales of harmful ‘nangs’ needed - Editorial

Nitrous oxide cannisters are being used as recreational drugs. Photo / Andrew Warner

THE FACTS

• Nitrous oxide containers, known as ‘nangs’, are being misused by young people for a quick high.
• Health Minister Simeon Brown says enforcement is the police’s responsibility, with Medsafe passing reports to them.
• Critics call for stricter regulations, including R18 sales and bulk packaging to deter personal use.

The silver, bullet-shaped containers are not hard to spot, littering parks, grass verges and back yards – anywhere where young people have gathered to socialise or party. The nitrous oxide containers, known as “nangs”, look innocuous enough. After all, they are supposed to be used to whip cream.

But their contents, “huffed” through a balloon for an instant but brief high, can have devastating consequences. In extreme cases, an overdose of nitrous oxide can kill.

And yet nangs too easily fall into the wrong hands, sold in dairies and online, where a startling array of nangs and “nos crackers” - used to pierce the end of the nang so the nitrous oxide can escape into a balloon – are on offer.

Worryingly, there are now signs that bottles of nitrous oxide as large as 3.3 litres - the equivalent of 300 small canisters or 2000g of nitrous oxide - are being used to huff in places like South Auckland. Critics question why the large cannisters, theoretically used to whip cream, are decorated in bright, video-game style graphics and have names like Miami Magic Infusion.

The use of nitrous oxide isn’t new. The gas, often known as laughing gas, has been used as a sedative and for pain relief for well over 150 years. And the hospitality and catering industry has used it for years.

Penalties for selling the gas for personal use include fines of up to $500,000 for a company, or imprisonment of up to two years for an individual. The fine for anyone found to have an “unapproved psychoactive substance” in their possession is a fine of up to $500.

Health Minister Simeon Brown told the Herald that enforcement is the responsibility of police and that Medsafe receives a relatively small number of reports of nitrous oxide sales for recreational use.

“These are passed on to the Police for their consideration and action where appropriate,” he said. The Government continues to monitor whether further restrictions are necessary.

It’s obvious that further restrictions are necessary. There are several other steps the Government can take to make it more difficult for young people to huff nitrous oxide and to stop unscrupulous retailers, including online, from selling to them.

Sales of the gas can be restricted to businesses supplying catering businesses and the hospitality industry. The cannisters can be sold in bulk packs to make them too expensive for personal use. Sales can be made R18 with a requirement that the purchaser shows their ID, which is then recorded.

Undoubtedly, one of the strongest preventions is education. Parents, caregivers, teachers, and local and central government all have a part to play to make young people wary of the consequences.

Parents of kids who have overdosed report “zombie-like” behaviour, confusion, poor concentration and forgetfulness. Prolonged use can lead to organ damage, a vitamin B12 deficiency leading to neurological symptoms, limb spasms, depression, incontinence, lung damage and birth defects if inhaled during pregnancy. Huffing nangs can cause frostbite to the nose, lips, throat and fingers.

Auckland Hospital has raised concerns about patients admitted with severe spinal injuries due to nitrous oxide use. One young Kiwi woman was left unable to walk after she became addicted, huffing up to 160 a day at her peak.

Taken in sufficient quantities, it can lead to death due to a lack of oxygen to the brain. It’s a no-brainer to make it extremely difficult for young Kiwis to obtain nitrous oxide to inhale for a quick high.