The nitrous oxide – colloquially known as “the gas of laughter” – has many uses, from anesthesia for dental procedures to the elaboration of the chantilly cream.
While their euphoric effects are well known, experts point out that vaping increase –VAPING In English- he created a perfect vehicle for recreational consumption and a perfect recipe for addiction.
Meg Caldwell’s story can serve as an example of how a death could have been avoided.
She, an equitable expert, began to consume the nitrous oxide recreationally about eight years ago, when I was in college. But, like many young people, he began to consume it more frequently during the pandemic.
Meg was the youngest of four sisters: “It was the light of our lives,” says Kathleen Dial, one of his sisters, to the BBC.
However, the consumption of nitrous oxide climbed at worrying levels, to the point that “he began to ruin his life.”
At first he lost the ability to move his legs after an overdose. He also produced problems to contain urine.
Despite this, she continued consuming. According to his relatives, he bought in small stores, got into his car, inhaled what he had bought and then returned to the store for more.
Sometimes I spent hundreds of dollars in one day.
He died last November, inside his car in front of one of the vapeo stores.
“She never thought that was going to harm her, because she was buying it in a legal store. That is, she thought she was buying something legal,” says her sister.
The progress of Meg addiction – of misuse by ignorance until addictive compulsion – has become common.
The annual report of the America’s Poison Centers organization indicates that there was a 58% increase in the number of people who intentionally consumed nitrous oxide in the last two years.
In the worst scenario, the inhalation of this substance can lead to hypoxia, which is when the brain does not receive enough oxygen. This can be deadly.
The usual consumption can lead to a vitamin B12 deficiency that can cause nervous damage, degradation of the spine and even paralysis.
The number of deaths attributed to nitrous oxide poisoning increased more than 110% between 2019 and 2023, according to US disease control and prevention centers (CDC).
Greater control
In Europe, specifically in the United Kingdom, the use of this substance began to penalize from 2023, after the recreational consumption was triggered after the pandemic.
However, in many US states it is still legal for culinary use.
Only Louisiana has totally forbid it.
Galaxy Gas, a company dedicated to the sale of these products, even offers recipes with dishes on its website that include the use of gas to create flavors foam, the Satay chicken with foam of Chile and peanuts or the watermelon gazpacho.
With flavors such as blue raspberry or strawberries with cream, experts warn that the legal vacuum, as well as the important changes in packaging and retail sale, have contributed to the increase in improper use.
Until recently, gas consumers inflated a balloon with small metal containers and then inhaled the gas from there.
But when the pandemic began and the use shot, the producers began selling larger containers, first on the Internet – until 2 kilos – and eventually in stores where vapers are sold.
The companies began to package the gas in colorful containers with designs similar to characters or themes of video games or television series.
Pat Abeeem, which belongs to the company “Associates to end addiction”, believes that these developments led to increase the misuse of gas.
“Even calling Galaxy Gas or Miami Magic is already marketing. If you have larger containers, that means that more people can try and use it and that leads to enormous pressure among the same friends to consume,” says Auleeem.
The BBC tried to communicate with the Galaxy Gas and Miami Magic companies, but did not respond.
Amazon, where these gases are sold online, said they know cases of misuse of nitrous oxide and are examining the measures to be implemented in the near future.
In an answer sent to the CBS News chain, a BBC partner in the US, Galaxy Gas said that his company sells the product for culinary purposes and that they include messages on their platforms warning about misuse.
Worry
Concerns about the misuse of nitrous oxide increased last year, when several videos of people consuming the gas became viral.
In social networks, videos of young people drugs with gas have become a trend.
A video uploaded in July 2024 by a young man who lives in Atlanta shows it consuming the gas and saying with a thick voice for the effect of nitrous oxide: “My name is Lil T”.
The video has about 40 million views.
Its improper use was also a recurring theme in rap videos and Twitch transmissions.
Some guests tested him in the Joe Rogan and rappers show such as Ye (previously Kanye West) spoke publicly about the abuse of the substance.
Ye demanded to his dentist for supplying him “recklessly” dangerous amounts of nitrous oxide.
In response to this trend, Tiktok blocked searches for “Galaxy Gas” and redirected users to a message with resources on substance consumption and addiction.
The SZA rapper also alerted her followers on social networks about her harmful effects and criticized her “mass marketing aimed at black children.”
In March, the US Food and Medicines Administration (FDA) issued an alert warning against gas inhalation after observing an increase in adverse events reports after the inhalation of nitrous oxide products.
The FDA explained to the BBC that it continues to actively monitor the adverse events related to the improper use of nitrous oxide and that it will take the appropriate measures to protect public health.
However, for some, these warnings are too late.
In 2023, Marissa Politte’s family, a 25 -year -old woman, successfully demanded United Brands, a nitrous oxide distributor, for US $ 745 million in damages and damages after the death of the young woman, radiology technique, at the hands of a driver under the effects of nitrous oxide.
The jury declared the company responsible for selling the product knowing that it would be misused.
“Marissa Politte’s death should not have happened, but my God should be the last,” said Johnny Simon, a lawyer for the Politte family.
Subscribe here To our new newsletter to receive every Friday a selection of our best content of the week.
You can also follow us in YouTube, Instagram, Tiktok, X, Facebook And in our new WhatsApp channel.
And remember that you can receive notifications in our app. Download the latest version and act.