Illegal sales of Nitrous Oxide in Bradford will continue to rise if tough action isn’t taken, a councillor has warned.

Sold for a cheap price on social media and in shops, laughing gas has become one of Britain’s biggest intoxicants.

But a review commissioned by the Government to examine the harms of laughing gas has stopped short of recommending a ban.

 

The report has been branded disappointing by Councillor Nazam Azam (Lab, City), who previously raised concerns about people at the wheel with balloons in their mouths.

He said: “I’m disappointed. This review, I was expecting a lot of positives from it. The main thing was for it to be outlawed and banned.

“How many lives is it going to take for them to outlaw this? I don’t know. That’s not even the health implications.

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“It can deprive oxygen to your brain and kill you immediately. In the long term it has massive implications.

“That must be costing the NHS a very large amount of their budget to deal with something which is easily avoidable.”

Cllr Azam said he is aware of some businesses taking advantage of legal “loopholes”, leaving West Yorkshire Police’s “hands tied”. 

Laughing gas is legitimately used in the catering and medical industry. 

He claimed some late night shops are behind illegal sales.

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He added: “The police, their hands are tied. They can’t start raiding legitimate places. Most of this stuff is being sold under the counter. It’s just as viable to say, ‘this is why we supply here because we’re a business that are selling to the catering industry’. There are loopholes.

“It’s readily available in shops. There’s people advertising on social media, selling it from the back of their cars.

“We’ve had many meetings with our local neighbourhood policing teams, feed them intelligence. There’s not much they can do.”

It comes ahead of a mock crash demonstration in Centenary Square as part of a nitrous oxide awareness day.

The event, held alongside police, ambulance workers and firefighters, will take place between 11am and 3pm on March 19. 

In the review, the ACMD said the substance “should not be subjected to control under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971”.

It concluded that the sanctions for offences under the act would be disproportionate with the level of harm associated with nitrous oxide and that such control could create “significant burdens” for legitimate uses. 

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Non-legitimate use of nitrous oxide is currently controlled under the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016, which the council said “remains the appropriate legislation”.

This means the production, supply and importation of nitrous oxide for its psychoactive effects is illegal, but not possession.

The Home Office has said it will consider the conclusions of the report.

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Other recommendations listed include additional powers for police to curb use, such as confiscating canisters or paraphernalia.

“No single recommendation on its own is likely to be sufficient to successfully reduce the harms associated with nitrous oxide use,” the report concludes.

A Home Office spokesman said: “This Government is working to crack down on drug misuse in our communities, that is why we asked the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs to provide updated advice on nitrous oxide.

“We thank them for their report, which we will now consider.”

Last month, the T&A joined concerned community leaders and young people to call on the Government to introduce tougher laws.

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Among those were Sofia Buncy MBE, national co-ordinator at the Khidmat Centre, and Sharat Hussain, youth worker at Mary Magdalene CiC. 

Sharat said: “Hopefully ministers will say we can get this banned right up and down the country.

“I’m glad it’s landing on Rishi’s table and he mentioned it in his New Year speech. It’s creating a wave now.

“Hopefully police can start charging people for the use of drugs and driving as part of the campaign.”

Ms Buncy added: “We would have welcomed tighter restrictions within policing for those found in possession of nitrous oxide especially with the current media coverage of car fatalities where nitrous oxide has been found.

“It is unfortunate the ‘grey area’ within policing will now still remain and powers are limited. This is against a very complex backdrop and conversation of not unnecessarily criminalising young people and adults.

“Solutions can therefore only lay at what the Khidmat Centres has emphasised time and again, restriction at the point of sale.”