Meeting with users of nitrous oxide, their parents and health professionals to try to understand why the consumption of this “laughing” gas is exploding.
–“Madame, it’s had an effect… Can’t you imagine, we’re on another planet!”.
This cold autumn afternoon, a group of community activists distribute information leaflets on the risks of nitrous oxide.
the “laughing gas” Where “proto”, is a diverted gas for food use. He is soldin the form of cartridges (for whipped cream siphons for example) or carboys in local shops (groceries, supermarkets) and on the internet.
Among the young teenagers encountered at the Vénissieux station, about one in three consumes it by sucking it into balloons which they fill with the famous bottles.
–“It’s so good! We have crazy sensations. We feel nothing and then we go super far”.
–“But how long does it last?”
–“Two minutes, five minutes and we died laughing”.
These two minutes often turn into 2 times ten, because users of nitrous oxide inhale the gas, wait for the effects and then often start again several times.
The group of boys who exchange with Samia, supervisor of a neighborhood college, know that there are risks:
–“The other day he fell on the ground”, says a 15-year-old teenager, dark-haired, in blue tracksuits and wireless headphones connected. He points to a taller, paler friend who confirms:
“Yeah I fell, it seems I was in a daze but in my head I was playing Play. I didn’t understand a thing”.
–“We thought he was breathing more, that he was in a coma, and then he woke up”.
Some have already felt tingling, or loss of sensation in the legs
–“But it’s coming back!” they say.
Not always and not without consequences, that’s the whole problem with this over-the-counter gas, but the sale and promotion of which to minors is prohibited.
However, it is difficult to regulate their circulation. In Vénissieux, everyone knows the address of the retailers. And in reality, except in the case of sale to minors, the police can only intervene for waste left on the public highway if this is the case.
The association France of the suburbs which multiplies the actions of sensitization calls for a stricter regulation. It supports the idea of a ban on the use of these gases for psychoactive purposes under penalty of a fine.
This is also the point of view of a mother who contacted them. For this report, she agreed to testify anonymously. She prefers to protect herself because she admits: “She is not depressed but she cries often”.
Her son will be 20 next February. In November 2021, “he complained about his left arm, the doctor gave him doliprane and a splint, thinking it was tendinitis. Then I found him locked in his room throwing up all day” she says.
“We went to the emergency room and there he had diplopia, he saw everything double. After MRI, he had cerebral thrombophlebitis”the obstruction of a vein around the brain by a clot
“I thought he was going to die, he could no longer stand on his legs, he was in a wheelchair. It can still be seen on his lips, he weighs 53 kg, he is always tired.”
And then the young man was released from the hospital after 15 days of treatment. “And there rebelote” says his mother. “I said to myself, he’s going to fall, we’re going to find him dead … all night I was going around the neighborhood to find him.”
“One day his uncle tried to get him back but he couldn’t, he didn’t want to leave and the young people were asking him to get off their land.”
“I don’t sleep anymore at night, I’m afraid it will start again. I don’t understand that it’s over the counter”.
When my brother went to meet the dealer in Vénissieux, he replied: it’s my livelihood.
says the mother of a young hospitalized
“He started at 19, when we had family problems”, wishes to clarify this visibly moved woman. Today the young man is in a home, in Villeurbanne, “He plays football, it makes him feel good. He wants to come home but he’s afraid of getting closer to his old friends and being tempted to go back.”
The number of cases of hospitalization for complications in Lyon in the services of the Civil Hospices has been multiplied by 5 in three years. There are as many girls as boys and their median age is 21. The use affects all social backgrounds, young schoolchildren, high school students or students, in all areas.
76% of calls received by poison control centers concern neurological damage, sometimes with persistent sequelae requiring rehabilitation functional
The Regional Health Agency and the HCLs have launched several alerts on the increase in the number of patients received in the services.
The consumption of these gases involves risks associated with occasional use:
- Asphyxiation from lack of oxygen
- Loss of consciousness
- disorientation
- Dizziness
- Falls
- Road accidents
- Cold burn of expelled gas
“But what we are seeing more and more are disorders linked to prolonged consumption of large quantities of gas” explains Alexandra Boucher, pharmacist at the addictovigilance center in Lyon. “We do not know from when we are exposed to risks, there is no defined threshold and the big problem is the harmless image of these products! We have cases of serious neurological damage , heart and motor disorders, some are unable to walk on their own”not to mention the psychological impacts associated with addiction.
“The complications observed in the event of repeated and/or massive doses (eg neurological, thrombotic, use disorders, etc.) are all the more formidable in that they generally develop insidiously, without the person concerned don’t realize it initially. But once it becomes clinically meaningful, it means the damage is done.” explains Alexandra Boucher.
In case of harmful effects and disturbing symptoms, you must quickly consult your doctor or go to the emergency room to receive appropriate support as soon as possible.
Above all, it is essential to stop taking nitrous oxide.
What if I am offered one? What to say to a teenager? who to call? Find all the advice on drugsinfoservices
A bill dated October 5, 2022 was presented by Senator Valérie Létard, it recommends the prohibition of the consumption of nitrous oxide for recreational purposes, to regulate the quantity held and sold of gas containers and equipment associate and create an offense of driving under the influence of these products.