Laughing gas in Europe can be equated with drugs
2022.11.21 11:11
Laughing gas in Europe can be equated with drugs
Budrigannews.com – According to a study by the European Union’s drugs monitoring agency EMCDDA, recreational use of nitrous oxide, also known as “laughing gas,” is on the rise among young people in Europe, resulting in a worrying number of poisonings.
According to the agency in Lisbon, the substance’s growing popularity stems from its widespread availability over-the-counter, low price, ease of use, and the false perception that it is safe. It also causes euphoria, relaxation, and dissociation from reality.
It is legitimately used for a wide range of commercial, industrial, and medical applications, particularly as a propellant in water siphons or whipped cream dispensers, for which it is sold in small, inexpensive cartridges online or in supermarkets.
Since the advent of larger gas cylinders aimed specifically at the recreational market in 2017, which frequently enticed teenagers with little prior experience using drugs, particular concerns have been raised in some European nations.
In most cases, the cartridges are used to fill party balloons, from which the gas is inhaled. However, in recent years, users have been inhaling directly from dispensers or cartridges, which can result in severe cold burns and damage to the lungs.
Several networks in the brain and spinal cord are also impacted.
Nitrous oxide poisoning cases have increased from 16 in 2015 to 73 last year in Denmark, from 10 in 2017 to 134 in 2020 in France, and from 144 in 2017 to 144 in 2020 in the Netherlands, which reported a sharp rise in car accidents caused by driving under the influence or trying to fill balloons.
According to the EMCDDA, nitrous oxide is the second most common drug among young adults in the United Kingdom, after cannabis, among those aged 16 to 24.
It proposes reducing the size of packages, prohibiting sales to minors, and prohibiting sales at night, when partygoers are more likely to purchase it, in order to limit gas consumption.
