Five years ago, it was still a marginal phenomenon in France. But in 2024, more than 30 patients were admitted to Lyon for having consumed nitrous oxide, better known as “laughing gas”. After Givors, Vénissieux, Meyzieu and Décines, the city of Lyon has decided to take ban measures.
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It is a phenomenon which is exploding in particular among those under 25: the consumption of “laughing gas”, the recreational name for nitrous oxide, which is used in whipped cream siphons. Five years ago, concern about this consumption spread to towns in Hauts-de-France and the Paris region. Then Paris, Marseille and towns peripheral to Lyon. The capital of Gaul has now taken up the problem by in turn banning the ban on this gas on public roads.
Installed in their video surveillance room, in the light of the control screens, the operators of the city of Lyon “observe this consumption when people gather” according to Mohammed Chihi, deputy delegate for safety and security of the city. On the ground, municipal police officers note the intensive use of this product in “discovering numerous used gas cartridges littering the ground” (seven tons of these canisters were collected by the city's maintenance services).
Observations confirmed by caregivers at HCL (civil hospices of Lyon). Doctor Christophe Riou is an HCL addictologist. In the corridors of the Pierre Wertheimer hospital, he saw around thirty patients pass by in 2024, consumers of nitrous oxide, with after-effects. The doctor welcomes into his department a teenager with severe neurological disorders, a young adult who has to walk with crutches or even a teenager who is so addicted that she continues to use drugs during her treatment. “This product has an addictive component. We found that it activated “pleasure” receptors, creating emotional dependence, but it also has a neurotoxic effect: in excessive doses, it can cause serious and irreversible neurological damage, with paralysis of the limbs” explains Dr. Riou, who insists on consulting at the first symptoms. “The concern is that the first symptoms, often tingling in the arms or legs, are perceived as mild”.
In his decree, the mayor of Lyon recalls that nitrous oxide can cause impaired alertness, cryogenic burns, hypoxia which can lead to death, a risk of loss of consciousness which can lead to a serious fall and loss of reflexes. . At the brain level, psychiatric disorders can appear, as well as sensorimotor neurological damage, memory loss and vitamin B12 deficiency.
So, to get in touch with patients before the appearance of these symptoms, Dr Riou has set up a dedicated teleconsultation (make an appointment on 04 72 11 78 52 or on myhcl.sante-ra.fr). “The pathologies linked to the “proto” represent a health burden with a risk of permanent after-effects, especially with young patients, while abusive use is something entirely avoidable, in any case which can be supported.” supports the doctor.
From now on, the city of Lyon prohibits “the possession or misuse for recreational purposes of nitrous oxide in public spaces as well as in private parking lots open to traffic“In these places are also prohibited.”the transfer or free offer of nitrous oxide whatever its packaging“.
At the national level, Law No. 2021-695 of June 1, 2021 to prevent the dangerous uses of nitrous oxide establishes a protective framework by providing:
- The ban on selling or offering nitrous oxide to minors, whatever the packaging, in all businesses; public places and on the internet. Violation of this ban is punishable by a fine of €3,750;
- Provoking a minor to misuse a consumer product to obtain psychoactive effects is an offense punishable by a fine of €15,000.
- Prohibition of sale or offering, including to adults, in drinking establishments and tobacco shops (€3,750 fine)
- E-commerce sites must specify the ban on the sale of this product to minors on the pages allowing an online purchase of this product, regardless of its packaging (€3,750 fine)
- It is also prohibited to sell and distribute any product specifically intended to facilitate the extraction of nitrous oxide, such as “crakers” and balloons (€3,750 fine)
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