Could laughing gas ban be pushing people to more dangerous drugs?
A young woman with a bright yellow balloon in her mouth giggles as a police car pulls up beside her. Next to her in the Fiat 500, her friend inhales gas from a blue balloon.
Both women are visibly high and still giggling as two officers jump out of their car. Their mission: a targeted operation to catch people suspected of inhaling banned laughing gas.
“I’ve just seen a couple of balloons, so we believe you’ve been using nos,” one of the officers, Spelthorne Borough Commander Matthew Walton, tells the women.
Since November, nos – nitrous oxide, commonly referred to as laughing gas – has been categorised as a Class C substance and banned for recreational use.
Prosecutions can lead to a two-year prison term.
But data from 22 police forces across the UK, put together by Sky News, reveal that fewer than 78 arrests were made for nitrous oxide possession in the first three months of the ban – and 16 people were charged.
Officers found used balloons and a large box containing several large canisters of nitrous oxide
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What is nitrous oxide?
‘No laughing matter’
The police conducting the operation last month in Staines had been tipped off by a local litter-picking organisation about nitrous oxide hotspots.
The officers find used balloons and a large box containing several large canisters of nitrous oxide. Suddenly, no one is laughing anymore.
A female officer conducts body searches. Up on the fence next to the women a sign warns of a £1,000 fine for anyone using nitrous oxide. “No laughing matter,” it reads.
Neither woman is arrested or charged; instead the driver, who appeared to be in her late teens, is offered a voluntary attendance interview.
“Depending on what she says we’ll make a disposal decision which could be a police caution, referral to Checkpoint (education on drug-driving) that they have to pay for themselves, like a speed awareness course,” says Commander Walton. “Or it could lead to a charge.”
Police say they are trying to strike a balance – but also be aware of the risks surrounding the gas.
“We’ve obviously got to balance it against all our other priorities,” Commander Walton told Sky News, emphasising the need for police to be proportionate in their response to young people out having fun.
But he warned that nitrous oxide could lead to other, more serious crimes.
“I think there is degree, especially with the age of the people we’ve got here, that where nos goes, cannabis follows. And sometimes harder drugs.”
The Metropolitan Police said officers prioritised offences which posed a more immediate risk
Notting Hill Carnival
Three friends sit on the side of a pavement at the Notting Hill Carnival. A barbecue throws smoke up in the air and children play next to a stall selling chicken and rice.
One of the friends is holding a silver balloon in her mouth and almost doesn’t notice when it whizzes away as she smiles. Straight away, she pulls out another. It’s noisy at Carnival but you can still hear the hiss of the balloon being gassed up.
A big silver canister sits between her legs and she laughs with friends when they realise they’ve been spotted by the Sky News camera. The nonchalance doesn’t go away even when three police officers walk in their direction.
But the officers walk on by, despite seeing the group doing balloons. A few moments later a patrol car also rolls by slowly. Still, no intervention.
Some 7,000 police officers were deployed to this year’s Notting Hill Carnival, the UK’s largest annual street party.
The Metropolitan Police said officers prioritised offences which posed a more immediate risk.
Police in Staines had been tipped off by a local litter-picking organisation
But it led to questions from drug policy experts about whether a ban on nitrous oxide was justified in the first place.
“Prohibitions generally can mutate behaviours and markets, but what they don’t do is stop people taking drugs,” said Steve Rolles, senior policy analyst at Transform Drug Policy.
Mr Rolles explained that the law is working to reduce the public profile of nitrous oxide in big events which are subject to high surveillance.
Indeed, discarded canisters from Carnival were down by roughly half this year. But Mr Rolles explains that it could mean repeat users carry on misusing in private, unsupervised spaces, and warns of another, potentially more dangerous consequence.
“If the result is to push people from nitrous oxide to other more harmful drugs then that’s not really a public health win.
“You might have a lot less litter but from a public health point of view things may have got worse.
“You can see how policy makers may try to mark this ban as a success but these things tend to displace the problem – either geographically where users carry on somewhere else – or they move to drugs which they can use in a more inconspicuous way.
“More drinking, more cannabis, more ketamine. And probably more dangerous.”
UK
Teenager living in ‘continuous pain’ after surgeon Dr Yaser Jabbar carried out ‘inappropriate’ operations
A 15-year-old boy who was operated on twice by a now unlicensed Great Ormond Street surgeon is living with “continuous” pain.
Finias Sandu has been told by an independent review the procedures he underwent on both his legs were “unacceptable” and “inappropriate” for his age.
The teenager from Essex was born with a condition that causes curved bones in his legs.
Aged seven, a reconstructive procedure was carried out on Finias’s left leg, lengthening the limb by 3.5cm.
A few years later, the same operation was carried out on his right leg which involved wearing an invasive and heavy metal frame for months.
He has now been told by independent experts these procedures should not have taken place and concerns have been raised over a lack of imaging being taken prior to the operations.
Yaser Jabbar rescinded his UK medical licence last year. Pic: LinkedIn
His doctor at London’s prestigious Great Ormond Street Hospital was former consultant orthopaedic surgeon Yaser Jabbar. Sky News has spoken to others he treated.
Mr Jabbar also did not arrange for updated scans or for relevant X-rays to be conducted ahead of the procedures.
The surgeries have been found to have caused Finias “harm” and left him in constant pain.
“The pain is there every day, every day I’m continuously in pain,” he told Sky News.
“It’s not something really sharp, although it does get to a certain point where it hurts quite a lot, but it’s always there. It just doesn’t leave, it’s a companion to me, just always there.”
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Finias’s surgery pictures
Care of over 700 patients being assessed
Mr Jabbar rescinded his UK medical licence in January last year after working at Great Ormond Street between 2017 and 2022.
The care of his 700-plus patients is being assessed, with some facing corrective surgery, among them Finias.
“Trusting somebody is hard to do, knowing what they have done to me physically and emotionally, you know, it’s just too much to comprehend for me,” he said.
“It wasn’t something just physically, like my leg pain and everything else. It was emotionally, because I put my trust in that specific doctor. My parents and I don’t really understand the more scientific terms, we just went by what he said.”
Doctors refused to treat Finias because of his surgeries
Finias and his family relocated to their native Romania soon after the reconstructive frame was removed from his right leg in the summer of 2021.
The pain worsened and they sought advice from doctors in Romania, who refused to treat Finias because of the impact of his surgeries.
Dozens of families seeking legal claims
His mother Cornelia Sandu is “furious” and feels her trust in the hospital has been shattered. They are now among dozens of families seeking legal claims.
Cyrus Plaza from Hudgell Solicitors is representing the family. He said: “In cases where it has been identified that harm was caused, we want to see Great Ormond Street Hospital agreeing to pay interim payments of compensation for the children, so that if they need therapy or treatment now, they can access it.”
Finias is accessing therapy and mental health support as he prepares for corrective surgery later in the year.
A spokesperson for Great Ormond Street Hospital told Sky News: “We are deeply sorry to Finias and his family, and all the patients and families who have been impacted.
“We want every patient and family who comes to our hospital to feel safe and cared for. We will always discuss concerns families may have and, where they submit claims, we will work to ensure the legal process can be resolved as quickly as possible.”
Finias with his mother and sister
Service not ‘safe for patients’
Sky News has attempted to contact Mr Jabbar.
An external review into the wider orthopaedic department at the hospital began in September 2022.
It was commissioned after the Royal College of Surgeons warned the hospital’s lower limb reconstruction service was not “safe for patients or adequate to meet demand”.
The investigation is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Sir Keir Starmer has said closer ties with the EU will be good for the UK’s jobs, bills and borders ahead of a summit where he could announce a deal with the bloc.
The government is set to host EU leaders in London on Monday as part of its efforts to “reset” relations post-Brexit.
A deal granting the UK access to a major EU defence fund could be on the table, according to reports – but disagreements over a youth mobility scheme and fishing rights could prove to be a stumbling block.
The prime minister has appeared to signal a youth mobility deal could be possible, telling The Times that while freedom of movement is a “red line”, youth mobility does not come under this.
His comment comes after Kaja Kallas, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, said on Friday work on a defence deal was progressing but “we’re not there yet”.
Sir Keir met European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen later that day while at a summit in Albania.
Ursula von der Leyen and Sir Keir had a brief meeting earlier this week. Pic: PA
If agreed, the deal will be the third in two weeks, following trade agreements with India and the US.
Sir Keir said: “First India, then the United States – in the last two weeks alone that’s jobs saved, faster growth and wages rising.
“More money in the pockets of British working people, achieved through striking deals not striking poses.
“Tomorrow, we take another step forward, with yet more benefits for the United Kingdom as the result of a strengthened partnership with the European Union.”
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Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said she is “worried” about what the PM might have negotiated.
Ms Badenoch – who has promised to rip up the deal with the EU if it breaches her red lines on Brexit – said: “Labour should have used this review of our EU trade deal to secure new wins for Britain, such as an EU-wide agreement on Brits using e-gates on the continent.
“Instead, it sounds like we’re giving away our fishing quotas, becoming a rule-taker from Brussels once again and getting free movement by the back door. This isn’t a reset, it’s a surrender.”
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