Ban on public sale of nitrous oxide being considered over damage to young people’s health

The Government is considering legislation to ban the sale of nitrous oxide to the public due to health and safety concerns for children and young people, the Minister of State for Public Health has said.Recreational abuse of inhaled nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas or whippets, has increased significantly in the last 10 years, particularly among younger age groups. The gas is used in healthcare settings for anaesthetic and analgesic reasons.But the HSE has said there has been a 130 per cent rise in people presenting for treatment for misuse of nitrous oxide since 2022 alone.Irish studies have highlighted an “alarming” spike in the number of young people in Ireland ending up with spinal cord damage and lasting injuries from the substance.READ MOREMinister of State at the Department of Health Jennifer Murnane O’Connor acknowledged the State needed to do more to protect young people and children from the risk of this substance, which she described as a “worry”.“I have set up an interdepartmental group within my own department, the HSE and working with [Minister for Justice] Jim O’Callaghan. We are now looking at, do we need legislation or how will we go forward,” she said.“What I will say is the EU now is introducing what’s called the Reach regulations. So from February 1st, 2027, nitrous oxide will no longer be allowed to be on sale to the general public. Working with our EU colleagues we would be looking at that as well. We will look at all options.”Fianna Fáil’s Teresa Costello held a meeting with experts in Leinster House on Tuesday on the issue, raising concerns about addiction and the neurological and public health implications of its misuse.The senator said the use of the substance was at epidemic levels, saying she recently collected more than 550 discarded nitrous oxide canisters in two hours at two clean-ups in Tallaght, southwest Dublin.Murnane O’Connor was speaking following the launch of the new national drugs strategy, which will run until 2030. The strategy does not decriminalise drug-use, as had been recommended by the Oireachtas health committee and the Citizens’ Assembly, but instead focuses on a “health-led approach”.Under the strategy, gardaí can refer a person who has been found with a “small amount” of drugs for the first time to the health services as an alternative to prosecution through the courts. Murnane O’Connor said gardaí would lead in this regard and would receive training. She did not define what qualified as a “small amount”.“That will be up to the gardaí. So when the gardaí find someone with a small amount of drugs for personal use, then that will be up to them to decide whether they need to take a health-led approach,” she said.“If it’s first time, if you’ve gotten drugs for personal use for first time, then it will be led through, as I said, with our gardaí. They will put you in what will be the health-led approach, which is really important. “Then after that, as we said, it’s up to the gardaí then on a second time, and they will then have that choice if they want to look at it this way.”A pilot scheme began on September 1st and will be reviewed after a year to “see how its working, do we need to change it a bit, and we are open to that, too”, she said.