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A new bill aimed at prohibiting the consumption of nitrous oxide is under consideration in France. The phenomenon worries health professionals, because more and more teenagers consume laughing gas without being aware of the consequences. How do they get it? France Télévisions conducted the investigation.
A strange situation takes place almost every week in a parking lot in Lille (Nord). Students have balloons in their hands which they fill with nitrous oxide, a euphoric gas, before inhaling it. More than a quarter of the students claim to have already consumed this gas contained in cylinders intended for cooking. The product is not considered a narcotic, but it is nevertheless dangerous. From the first puffs, the risks of loss of consciousness and asphyxiation are proven. In the long term, neurological disorders worrying specialists. Several deaths have been observed.
The sale of laughing gas is prohibited. However, on social networks, dozens of accounts offer nitrous oxide with ads aimed at the youngest. Shipments are seized almost every week by law enforcement. In the Bordeaux region, two tonnes of nitrous oxide were intercepted a few weeks ago. The traffickers had already sold some for 350,000 euros. They got their supplies in the Netherlands, without taking any particular precautions. The networks are modeled on those of drug trafficking, with supply chains in Asia, packaging in Europe and distribution via Paris to all of France. The sale of nitrous oxide has been prohibited to minors since 2021 and is punishable by a fine of 3,750 euros.