“Laughing gas”: nitrous oxide soon to be banned for sale to the general public?

On sale for just a few euros on the Internet, in local shops and supermarkets, nitrous oxide cartridges, or “laughing gas” (new window)could disappear from the shelves. A bill (new window) aimed at prohibiting its sale to individuals in physical and online retail stores was examined and voted on by deputies on Wednesday January 22 by the Social Affairs Committee of the National Assembly. This proposal presented by the rebellious deputy Ider Boumertit “aims to restrict the sale of nitrous oxide to professionals only and to strengthen preventive actions on misused consumption”. The text will be examined next week in the hemicycle.

If this bill were definitively adopted, only professionals in the medical and catering sectors would be able to purchase “laughing gas” through specific sales channels. “The objective of this measure is to restrict the accessibility of the product in order to limit its misuse, and thus to protect the population from health risks.”we can read in article 1ᵉʳ of this proposed law.

Although this product is legal, a law of June 1, 2021, which came into force on January 1, 2024, prohibits its sale to minors and provides for regulations aimed at limiting the quantities of authorized sales.

Nitrous oxide is initially used in the medical field as an analgesic, but also in the culinary field with cartridges for whipped cream siphons, for example. But its use is misused. In recent years, recreational consumption of nitrous oxide has become a very widespread phenomenon in France. Many adolescents and young adults are attracted to this practice because of the euphoric sensations it provides. On social networks, some film themselves inhaling the substance, injected into a balloon. The average age of recreational use is 22.

A “scourge”, according to the authors of the bill

“Laughing gas” has become a “scourge for our public health”note the authors of the bill in the explanatory statement of the text. The French Observatory for Drugs and Drug Addiction (OFDT) emphasizes that its prolonged use and at high doses can have serious consequences for the bone marrow and the nervous system, leading to risks of serious and permanent neurological, respiratory and cardiovascular disorders. Between 2020 and 2021, a three-fold increase in the number of serious cases was reported to addiction centers, with a neurological complication in 80% of cases.

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In England, more than 56 deaths were recorded between 2001 and 2020 following the use of nitrous oxide. In early 2023, the UK government passed strict legislation banning the possession and consumption of the product for recreational purposes. In the Netherlands, the recreational use of nitrous oxide has also been banned since January 1, 2023.