Nitrous oxide (street name nangs, hippy crack, whippets, whippits or cannies) is a gas which can induce euphoria, hallucinogenic states and relaxation when inhaled. [1] Nitrous oxide is a neurotoxin and excessive use can cause long-term neurological damage. [2] [3]
First recorded in the 18th century at upper-class "laughing gas parties", the experience was largely limited to medical students until the late 20th century when laws limiting access to the gas were loosened to supply dentists and hospitals. By the 2010s, nitrous oxide had become a moderately popular recreational drug in some countries. [4]
Increasing recreational use has become a public health concern internationally due to the potential for long-term neurological damage following excessive use. [1] [2] Recreational users are often unaware of the risks associated with excessive use. [5] Possession of nitrous oxide is legal in many countries, although some have criminalised supplying it for recreational purposes.
Nitrous oxide is used recreationally, as inhalation can induce euphoria, relaxation and a hallucinogenic state. [1] Long-term or habitual use can lead to severe neurological damage. [3]
Since nitrous oxide can cause dizziness, dissociation, and temporary loss of motor control, it is unsafe to inhale while standing up. Safer use can involve inhalation while seated to decrease risks of injury by falling. Inhalation directly from a tank poses serious health risks, as it can cause frostbite since the gas is very cold when released. For those reasons, most recreational users will discharge the gas into a balloon or whipped cream dispenser before inhaling. [6]
It is not known if nitrous oxide causes drug dependency but its use can be habit-forming. [1] Death can result if it is inhaled in such a way that not enough oxygen is breathed in. While the pure gas is not acutely toxic, it inactivates vitamin B12, with continued use causing neurological damage due to peripheral and central demyelination. [3] Symptoms are similar to B12 deficiency: anemia due to reduced hemopoiesis, neuropathy, tinnitus, and numbness in extremities. As such, a two week course of vitamin B12 injection (not oral supplementation) is recommended as a first-line treatment, combined with abstinence; [3] oral supplementation may be phased-in later. [7] Pregnant women should not use nitrous oxide recreationally, because chronic use is also teratogenic and foetotoxic.[ medical citation needed ]
Inhaling industrial-grade nitrous oxide is also dangerous, as it contains many impurities and is not intended for use on humans. Food grade nitrous oxide is also not meant to be inhaled; the bulbs commonly have industrial lubricants from their manufacturing process on and in them. When the bulb is punctured, these solvents can aerosolize, introducing unknown particles into the gas. These lubricants commonly leave an oily residue on the bulb "cracker" or inside the whipped cream dispenser. [8]
In 2022, a Portland, Oregon, couple became temporarily unable to walk due to spinal nerve damage caused by the recreational use of nitrous oxide, and still had difficulties walking a year later. [9]
From 1993 to 2016, only 30 death certificates in England and Wales mentioned nitrous oxide. Of those, 6 were in the 17-year period from 1993 through 2009, and 24 were in the 7-year period from 2010 through 2016. [10]
In 2018, an Ohio University freshman died of asphyxiation as a result of nitrous oxide ingestion from whipped-cream chargers, allegedly as part of a hazing ritual. [11]
In 2020, a fifteen-year-old Irish boy died after ingesting nitrous oxide, [12] leading to Ireland's Health Service Executive classing it as a dangerous drug. [13]
Inhalation of nitrous oxide for recreational use, with the purpose of causing euphoria or slight hallucinations, began as a phenomenon for the British upper class in 1799, known as "laughing gas parties". [14] English chemist Humphry Davy offered the gas to party guests in a silken bag, and documented its effects in his 1800 book Researches, Chemical and Philosophical which investigated "nitrous oxide, or diphlogisticated nitrous air, and its respiration". [15] Poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge described the effect as "like returning from a walk in the snow into a warm room". [14]
During the 19th century, William James and many contemporaries found that inhalation of nitrous oxide resulted in a powerful spiritual and mystical experience for the user. James claimed to experience the fusing of dichotomies into unity and a revelation of ultimate truth during the inhalation of nitrous oxide. The memory of this experience, however, quickly faded and any attempt to communicate was difficult at best. James described a man who, when under the influence of the gas, claimed to know the secret of the universe. [16]
Until at least 1863, low availability of equipment to produce the gas, combined with low usage of the gas for medical purposes, meant it was a relatively rare phenomenon that mainly happened among students at medical universities. When equipment became more widely available for dentistry and hospitals, most countries also restricted the legal access to buy pure nitrous oxide gas cylinders to those sectors. Even so, its use in parties continued, with gas provided by medical professionals or restaurant workers, [17] [18] and by other legal or illegal sources.
A report from Consumers Union report from 1972 (based upon reports of its use in Maryland 1971, Vancouver 1972, and a survey made by Edward J. Lynn of its non-medical use in Michigan 1970) found that use of the gas for recreational purposes was then prevalent in the US and Canada. [17] [18]
It was not uncommon [in the interviews] to hear from individuals who had been to parties where a professional (doctor, nurse, scientist, inhalation therapist, researcher) had provided nitrous oxide. There also were those who work in restaurants who used the N
2O stored in tanks for the preparation of whip cream. Reports were received from people who used the gas contained in aerosol cans both of food and non-food products. At a recent rock festival, nitrous oxide was widely sold for 25 cents a balloon. Contact was made with a "mystical-religious" group that used the gas to accelerate arriving at their transcendental-meditative state of choice. Although a few, more sophisticated users employed nitrous oxide-oxygen mixes with elaborate equipment, most users used balloons or plastic bags. They either held a breath of N
2O or rebreathed the gas. There were no adverse effects reported in the more than one hundred individuals surveyed. [18]
As of 2019 [update] , the gas enjoys moderate popularity in some countries as a recreational drug. Nitrous oxide has the street names hippy crack and whippets (or whippits). [1] In Australia and New Zealand, nitrous oxide bulbs are known as nangs, possibly derived from the sound distortion perceived by consumers. [19] [20] In China, recreational nitrous oxide use is on the rise and has become a social issue. [21] [22]
In the United Kingdom, as of 2014 [update] , nitrous oxide is estimated to be used by almost half a million young people at nightspots, festivals and parties. Officials in Norfolk, Hertfordshire and Thames Valley had reported increasing numbers of discarded whipped-cream chargers being found. [23]
Recreational users generally use 8 gram (¼ oz) containers of nitrous oxide "whippets", which they use to fill balloons or whipped cream dispensers. The gas is then inhaled from the balloon or dispenser. [24] This is necessary because nitrous oxide is very cold when it undergoes adiabatic decompression on exit from a canister; inhalation directly from a tank is dangerous and can cause frostbite of the larynx and bronchi. [25]
Supply of nitrous oxide for recreational purposes is illegal; however, it is permissible to supply it for cooking and baking purposes. As a deleterious substance, the supply of the substance for the purposes of inhalation can result in a two-year period of imprisonment. [26]
The canisters are commonly referred to in Australia as nangs. [27]
Since 1 January 2023, the possession, importing, and sale of nitrous oxide is banned in the Netherlands, with exceptions for medical use, and the food industry. [28] It is illegal under the Opium Act. [29]
Using nitrous oxide for recreational use is called "boffning" as slang. It is not illegal, and whipped cream chargers with nitrous oxide can be purchased as kitchen supply. [30] [31] Most retailers have a voluntary age restriction of 18 years for purchase. At festivals or bigger events, sales have been stopped, referring to "environmental hazardous chemical handling". [32]
Supply of nitrous oxide for recreational purposes is illegal under the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016. This means anyone found to be selling or giving away nitrous oxide for illicit purposes could face up to 7 years in prison and/or an unlimited fine. [33] On 3 March 2023, it was announced that nitrous oxide will be prohibited under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. [34]
On 5 September 2023, it was announced by the British government that nitrous oxide will be categorised as a class C drug by the end of 2023, in an effort to crack down on anti-social behaviour. [35]
Slang terms used for the canisters in the United Kingdom include balloons, nos, whippits, laughing gas, hippie crack, chargers and noz. [36]
Under United States federal law, possession of nitrous oxide is legal and is not subject to DEA purview. It is, however, regulated by the Food and Drug Administration under the Food Drug and Cosmetics Act. Prosecution is possible under its "misbranding" clauses, prohibiting the sale or distribution of nitrous oxide for the purpose of human consumption (the recreational drug use market). Given the necessity of proving the intent of either buyer or seller in this case, though, such prosecutions are rare.
Many states have laws regulating the possession, sale, and distribution of nitrous oxide; but these are normally limited to either banning distribution to minors, or to setting an upper limit for the amount of nitrous oxide that may be sold without a special license, rather than banning possession or distribution completely. In most jurisdictions, like at the federal level, sale or distribution for the purpose of human consumption is illegal. In California, for instance, inhalation of nitrous oxide "for the purpose of causing euphoria, or for the purpose of changing in any manner one’s mental processes," is a criminal offense under its criminal code (Cal. Pen. Code, Sec. 381b). In most jurisdictions, small N2O cartridges, used to make whipped cream, can be legally purchased by anyone. In some jurisdictions, sales of canned whipped cream using nitrous oxide are limited to adults. [37]
In all US jurisdictions, however, distribution, possession, and inhalation are legal when done under the supervision and direction of licensed medical professional such as a physician or dentist.
Amyl nitrite is a chemical compound with the formula C5H11ONO. A variety of isomers are known, but they all feature an amyl group attached to the nitrite functional group. The alkyl group is unreactive and the chemical and biological properties are mainly due to the nitrite group. Like other alkyl nitrites, amyl nitrite is bioactive in mammals, being a vasodilator, which is the basis of its use as a prescription medicine. As an inhalant, it also has a psychoactive effect, which has led to its recreational use, with its smell being described as that of old socks or dirty feet. It was first documented in 1844 and came into medical use in 1867.
Inhalants are a broad range of household and industrial chemicals whose volatile vapors or pressurized gases can be concentrated and breathed in via the nose or mouth to produce intoxication, in a manner not intended by the manufacturer. They are inhaled at room temperature through volatilization or from a pressurized container, and do not include drugs that are sniffed after burning or heating. For example, amyl nitrite (poppers), gasoline, nitrous oxide and toluene – a solvent widely used in contact cement, permanent markers, and certain types of glue – are considered inhalants, but smoking tobacco, cannabis, and crack cocaine are not, even though these drugs are inhaled as smoke or vapor.
Recreational drug use is the use of one or more psychoactive drugs to induce an altered state of consciousness, either for pleasure or for some other casual purpose or pastime. When a psychoactive drug enters the user's body, it induces an intoxicating effect. Recreational drugs are commonly divided into three categories: depressants, stimulants, and hallucinogens.
Nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas, nitrous, nitro, or nos, is a chemical compound, an oxide of nitrogen with the formula N
2O. At room temperature, it is a colourless non-flammable gas, and has a slightly sweet scent and taste. At elevated temperatures, nitrous oxide is a powerful oxidiser similar to molecular oxygen.
Club drugs, also called rave drugs or party drugs, are a loosely defined category of recreational drugs which are associated with discothèques in the 1970s and nightclubs, dance clubs, electronic dance music (EDM) parties, and raves in the 1980s to today. Unlike many other categories, such as opiates and benzodiazepines, which are established according to pharmaceutical or chemical properties, club drugs are a "category of convenience", in which drugs are included due to the locations they are consumed and/or where the user goes while under the influence of the drugs. Club drugs are generally used by adolescents and young adults.
A head shop is a retail outlet specializing in paraphernalia used for consumption of cannabis and tobacco and items related to cannabis culture and related countercultures. They emerged from the hippie counterculture in the late 1960s, and at that time, many of them had close ties to the anti-Vietnam War movement as well as groups in the marijuana legalization movement like LeMar, Amorphia, and the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.
A whipped cream charger is a steel cylinder or cartridge filled with nitrous oxide (N2O) that is used as a whipping agent in a whipped cream dispenser. The narrow end of a charger has a foil covering that is broken to release the gas. This is usually done by a sharp pin inside the whipped cream dispenser. The nitrous oxide in chargers is also used as an oxidizer in hybrid model rocket engines.
Inhalation is the process of drawing air or other gases into the respiratory tract, primarily for the purpose of breathing and oxygen exchange within the body. It is a fundamental physiological function in humans and many other organisms, essential for sustaining life. Inhalation is the first phase of respiration, allowing the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide between the body and the environment, vital for the body's metabolic processes. This article delves into the mechanics of inhalation, its significance in various contexts, and its potential impact on health.
An anesthetic or anaesthetic is a drug used to induce anesthesia — in other words, to result in a temporary loss of sensation or awareness. They may be divided into two broad classes: general anesthetics, which result in a reversible loss of consciousness, and local anesthetics, which cause a reversible loss of sensation for a limited region of the body without necessarily affecting consciousness.
Horace Wells was an American dentist who pioneered the use of anesthesia in medicine, specifically the use of nitrous oxide.
Nitrous oxide is an inhaled gas used as a pain medication and together with other medications for anesthesia. Common uses include during childbirth, following trauma, and as part of end-of-life care. Onset of effect is typically within half a minute, and the effect lasts for about a minute.
Megaloblastic anemia is a type of macrocytic anemia. An anemia is a red blood cell defect that can lead to an undersupply of oxygen. Megaloblastic anemia results from inhibition of DNA synthesis during red blood cell production. When DNA synthesis is impaired, the cell cycle cannot progress from the G2 growth stage to the mitosis (M) stage. This leads to continuing cell growth without division, which presents as macrocytosis. Megaloblastic anemia has a rather slow onset, especially when compared to that of other anemias. The defect in red cell DNA synthesis is most often due to hypovitaminosis, specifically vitamin B12 deficiency or folate deficiency. Loss of micronutrients may also be a cause.
A gas duster, also known as tinned wind or compressed air, is a product used for cleaning or dusting electronic equipment and other sensitive devices that cannot be cleaned using water.
Subacute combined degeneration of spinal cord, also known as myelosis funiculus, or funicular myelosis, also Lichtheim's disease, and Putnam-Dana syndrome, refers to degeneration of the posterior and lateral columns of the spinal cord as a result of vitamin B12 deficiency (most common). It may also occur similarly as result of vitamin E deficiency, and copper deficiency. It is usually associated with pernicious anemia.
A drug is any chemical substance that when consumed causes a change in an organism's physiology, including its psychology, if applicable. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and other substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestion, absorption via a patch on the skin, suppository, or dissolution under the tongue.
Cyanocobalamin is a form of vitamin B
12 used to treat and prevent vitamin B
12 deficiency except in the presence of cyanide toxicity. The deficiency may occur in pernicious anemia, following surgical removal of the stomach, with fish tapeworm, or due to bowel cancer. It is used by mouth, by injection into a muscle, or as a nasal spray.
Nang or nangs may refer to:
A psychoactive drug, psychopharmaceutical, psychoactive agent, or psychotropic drug is a chemical substance that changes the function of the nervous system and results in alterations of perception, mood, cognition, and behavior. These substances may be used medically, recreationally, for spiritual reasons, or for research. Some categories of psychoactive drugs may be prescribed by physicians and other healthcare practitioners because of their therapeutic value.
Whip It or Whippit may refer to:
Inhalation sedation is a form of conscious sedation where an inhaled drug should: