A study published by ANSES on Tuesday, November 16 warns of a considerable increase in the use of nitrous oxide. Consumption that can cause serious neurological disorders.
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While the nitrous oxide is increasingly subject to diversion of use, the poison control centers warn in a study published Tuesday, November 16 by ANSES on an increase in the number of cases of 191% between 2019 and 2020, 134 cases against 46 and only 10 in 2017 and 2018. Ile-de-France is the most affected region with a quarter of the cases concerned.
Poison control centers report an increase in calls received between 2017 and 2019 and the observation of serious neurological symptoms in some consumers. Regarding the profile of consumers, the majority are men with a median age of 20 years.
There is also a more marked consumption from carboys, equivalent to a hundred cartridges (19.4% of cases in 2020 against 3% between 2017 and 2019).
Among these 134 cases, 126 were symptomatic but serious neurological disorders, in particular in the regular consumers, were observed with motor deficits, tremors of the extremities. Regular users of nitrous oxide may consume up to “50 cartridges in one evening”, even “more than 600 cartridges per day”.
This study focuses on “higher quantities consumed by regular consumers, for more than a year”. In 19.4% of cases, the consumption of nitrous oxide is associated with alcohol or cannabis.
A legislative framework was adopted in France on June 1, 2021. The law aimed at preventing dangerous uses of nitrous oxide must apply to minors and adults. It prohibits the sale or offer of nitrous oxide to any person regardless of age, in drinking and tobacco shops. The law also creates the offense of “cause a minor to misuse a product of current consumption to obtain psychoactive effects”.