Landmark proposals to tighten up the law on laughing gas sales have been praised by one of Bradford’s leading campaigners.
Nitrous Oxide (N2O), which is also known as ‘hippy crack’ and 'nitty', is a gas sold in canisters and commonly used in the medical and catering industries.
But it is often misused and inhaled from balloons by those looking to get high.
Following cannabis, N2O is the most used drug among 16 to 24-year-olds in England.
Empty canisters of the gas have become an increasingly common sight at roadsides, and there have been reports of people getting behind the wheel after inhaling the drug.
Meanwhile doctors are seeing more patients struggling with severe side effects on hospital wards.
Now, ministers could move to criminalise possession of N2O - unless someone has a “legitimate reason” to have it – and ban it from general sale.
The silver vials first reached the radars of community leaders in Bradford at the height of Covid-19 lockdowns in 2020.
It sparked a call for action from Sofia Buncy MBE, national co-ordinator at the Khidmat Centre, Sharat Hussain, youth worker at Mary Magdalene CiC, and young people on the Young in Covid programme.
In June 2020, Ms Buncy wrote a letter to the then-Home Secretary Priti Patel, warning of a “growing epidemic” in recreational drug use.
Ms Buncy told the minister: “Since the issue was picked up by the Telegraph & Argus, we have been inundated with contact from other frontline providers both in our district and beyond who are bearing testimony to this growing menace.”
The British Compressed Gases Association is among those calling for a ban on all consumer sales.
A review - requested by Ms Patel in September 2021 - is currently underway by the UK-wide independent advisory council on the misuse of drugs.
Reacting to the latest developments, Ms Buncy said the law changes could help police prosecute drivers who show signs of drug-taking through N2O bottles, balloons or canisters dumped in their car.
“These were grey areas for police,” Ms Buncy said.
“It doesn’t stay in your system. The traceability of it just isn’t there.
“There isn’t any clear guidance around how to deal with Nitrous Oxide stop and searches. It was proving really difficult for policing.
“There’s this quiet approval when it’s ‘Ok you can pop down to the shop and buy it’. I’ve seen people selling it on Snapchat, you can buy it off Ebay, so points of access that are free and legal – there are no repercussions of that.
“It’s free to access and a cheap choice of drug. It’s readily available.
“It’s really taken some time to prove that need [of tougher restrictions on sale].
“We’ve worked really hard along with partners, whether that’s the Telegraph & Argus, Mary Magdalene, or the police, over a very long time.
“It’s encouraging to see young people say, we don’t want Nitrous Oxide plaguing our communities.
“This is a win for the city and young people saying, ‘We’re not all users, we’re concerned for our peers’. It demonstrates the social conscience of young people. This is their social conscience and their activism to make a difference within the communities they live.”
The dealing and use of nitrous oxide have come to light in some court cases and inquests in Bradford.
Bradford driver Zamir Shah, 27, had been inhaling nitrous oxide from a balloon moments before he tried to overtake a Porsche car in a Volkswagen Golf on Cottingley Cliffe Road on June 8, 2021. His car flipped into the air and ended up on his roof in the horror crash.
Shah, of Firethorn Close, Girlington, initially left his female passenger lying seriously injured at the scene of a crash. In Bradford Crown Court, he was jailed for three-and-a-half years for dangerous driving.
An inquest into the death of two men killed in a crash in Brighouse town centre on July 17, 2020, heard they were dealing nitrous oxide canisters.
The hearing at Bradford Coroners' Court into the deaths of Mohammed Sohail Aziz, 23, and Suhail Ahmad Akhtar, 20, was told by a police officer that nitrous oxide canisters had been discovered at the scene.
Police evidence from mobile phones showed the men had been "engaged in the sale of nitrous oxide canisters".
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