Sorry. It appears to have taken me several centuries to become aware of the fact that occasionally laughing gas (or Nitrous Oxide) is used for recreational purposes.
It is always a huge disappointment to me that I am so totally unaware and always have been of what the “cool” crowd are doing regarding the latest drug habit of choice. Apparently inhaling this gas at parties via balloons or at festivals (where it is seemingly openly sold although it is illegal) is on the increase and everyone I have subsequently spoken to seems to know about it.
Everyone I’ve talked to (the younger lot) seem to be pretty relaxed about it – it gives you a quick head rush high and makes you laugh your head off and isn’t going to do any long lasting damage.
Really?
Is that true?
Even though a few days ago I heard about a friend of a friend who has a 17 year old son in hospital who inhaled too much of the gas and subsequently had four heart attacks. He is still in a very bad way in hospital and things are not looking too hopeful for him.*
Would I be scare mongering to share this story when his parents have posted details on Facebook and asked kids to pass on the message? They want everyone to know that this drug can cause strokes, hallucinations, seizures, blackouts, incontinence and put a huge stress on the heart.
It was apparently what put Demi Moore in hospital with a seizure after taking too much of it, post her young husband’s defection.
Anybody else know anything about how rife it is and whether we should all, as parents be a little bit more concerned that the drug is readily sold and easily accessible for approximately £1.50 a balloon full?
* He very sadly died yesterday 27/9/12.
DD's Diary
September 25, 2012Blimey, I hadn’t heard about this …. is laughing gas what they give to you during birth, the gas and air thing? If so, it completely didn’t work on me and I want my £1.50 back. Seriously, I’m glad I don’t know this stuff – a bit less to worry about.
Family Affairs
September 25, 2012Yes same stuff they use for labour and dentistry mostly – didn’t work for me either – although might have enjoyed it more if I wasn’t trying to push out a baby at the time Lx
Gumpher
September 25, 2012I didn’t know it could have such serious effects, not that I’ve tried it.
The general camping areas of the last few music festivals we’ve been to have been covered, and I mean covered with the empty little canister thingies.
Family Affairs
September 25, 2012Yes, that’s what I’ve heard too and I’m not sure how that works when it’s completely illegal Lx
janelle
September 25, 2012not funny at all. i thought they only used that shit at the dentists? and when you;re having a baby?? or is that another kind of gas? either way, not funny and it doesn’t work in any case. x j
janelle
September 25, 2012oops. must read previous comments before i blah off….i am sick. so there’s my excuse. x j
Family Affairs
September 25, 2012No need – we all feel the same way about it thus far is all that means – why r u sick?? Lx
N xx
September 25, 2012It is, sadly, big business at festivals. Can it really be harmful? I had gallons of the stuff when in labour and thought it was great! Def worked for me… But then I’ve always been a cheap date. Perhaps your frIend’s friend’s son had an allergic reaction? I guess that could happen?
saz
September 25, 2012OMFG!!
whatever next…jeez..off into lounge to amke a statement…5 days to go…before all sense leaves hgim and worry worry worry..
thanks Lu
luv saz x
A Modern Mother
September 26, 2012It is very scary. Surely we can do something about it. Can they put warnings on the balloons, like they do with cigarettes??
Family Affairs
September 26, 2012Yes but very easy to buy party balloons without warnings on? Also don’t think it should be encouraged to that degree – it is already illegal after all – I am slightly puzzled/concerned as to why festival organisers allow the gas to be sold on site? Lx
Nicola
September 26, 2012Ag, no man! Call me old-fashioned (and I can assure you I’ve NEVER been called that!) but this scares me.
SusannahS
September 26, 2012Over here in the States, it’s been going on for a few years. I now have a small shop in a tight-knit community and there’s a rumor that the dentist’s son was filling balloons from his dad’s office N2O and selling them.
More common than the balloons, though, are various ‘everyday’ items that I would never have thought of. The kids are calling them (any small containers of N2O) ‘whippits” because you could take a can of whipped cream and inhale (“huff”) the N2O from it. A lot of work and money for a little buzz, though. People were doing that nearly 20 years ago (*gasp*) when I started college. Then they discovered the cans of compressed air that you buy in office supply stores and use to spray the dust from crevices in your keyboard, etc. They’re huffing those too. Some of the fancy-schmancy coffee machines use whipped cream chargers which also contain the N2O. You have to buy a special tool to crack the chargers open. The retail chain I used to manage sold the whipped cream chargers as ‘novelties’…somehow I usually forgot to reorder them even though they were hella profitable. It was a moral quandary for me because it’s not illegal in my state to buy or sell any of these items.
The statistic right now is that 2 people PER MONTH suffocate after doing whippits (the gas can replace all the oxygen in your lungs and be difficult to expel or the gas can cause the part of your brain that regulates breathing to shut down). It’s very scary. I’ve never heard of any other deaths associated with whippits, but you just never know.
And yes, Demi Moore was doing whippits and drinking massive amounts of Red Bull prior to her hospitalization.
Family Affairs
September 26, 2012Yes, I’ve heard of whippits – too scared to ask the youngsters whether they have heard of them for fear of giving them ideas! 2 per month is two too many per month. Not a huge amount per year, but could be avoidable. Lx
SusannahS
September 26, 2012Sorry that was so long. Whippits were one of my pet peeves and I really lobbied to ban them in my former job.
Family Affairs
September 26, 2012Don’t apologise – I love long comments and yours was especially informative Lx
SusannahS
October 13, 2012I know this is an old thread now, but I came across this today…yikes!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/british-teen-has-stomach-removed-after-drinking-liquid-nitrogen-cooled-cocktail/2012/10/08/a083ff98-1176-11e2-9a39-1f5a7f6fe945_story.html?tid=obnetwork
Family Affairs
October 14, 2012Yes I saw this last week – horrific – going to write about that next! I had those drinks at a posh function recently – had no idea they could be so damaging Lx