Could laughing gas ban be pushing people to more dangerous drugs?

Published

3 months ago

August 28, 2024

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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.

‘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.”

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.

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

Teenage girl killed on M5 in Somerset after getting out of police car named

Published

9 hours ago

November 15, 2024

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Teenage girl killed on M5 in Somerset after getting out of police car named

A teenage girl who was killed after getting out of a police car on the M5 in Somerset has been named.

Tamzin Hall, 17 and from Wellington, was hit by a vehicle that was travelling southbound between junction 24 for Bridgwater and junction 25 for Taunton shortly after 11pm on Monday.

She had exited a police vehicle that had stopped on the northbound side of the motorway while transporting her.

A mandatory referral was made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which is now carrying out its own investigation into what happened.

Avon and Somerset Police said: “Our thoughts and sympathies go out to Tamzin’s family for their devastating loss.

“A specially-trained family liaison officer remains in contact with them to keep them updated and to provide support.

“The family have asked for privacy at this difficult time.”

The police watchdog, the IOPC, has been asked to investigate.

In a statement, director David Ford, said: “This was a truly tragic incident and my thoughts are with Tamzin’s family and friends and everyone affected by the events of that evening.

“We are contacting her family to express our sympathies, explain our role, and set out how our investigation will progress. We will keep them fully updated as our investigation continues.”

Paramedics attended the motorway within minutes of the girl being hit but she was pronounced dead at the scene.

The motorway was closed in both directions while investigations took place. It was fully reopened shortly after 11am on Tuesday, Nationals Highways said.

UK

Mohamed al Fayed’s brother Salah also abused women, say female Harrods employees

Published

9 hours ago

November 15, 2024

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Mohamed al Fayed's brother Salah also abused women, say female Harrods employees

A survivors group advocating for women allegedly assaulted by Mohamed al Fayed has said it is “grateful another abuser has been unmasked”, after allegations his brother Salah also participated in the abuse.

Justice for Harrods Survivors says it has “credible evidence” suggesting the sexual abuse allegedly perpetrated at Harrods and the billionaire’s properties “was not limited to Mr al Fayed himself”.

The group’s statement comes after three women told BBC News they were sexually assaulted by al Fayed’s brother, Salah.

One woman said she was raped by Mohamed al Fayed while working at Harrods.

Helen, who has waived her right to anonymity, said she then took a job working for his brother as an escape. She alleges she was drugged and sexually assaulted while working at Salah’s home on Park Lane, London.

Two other women have told the BBC they were taken to Monaco and the South of France, where Salah sexually abused them.

The Justice for Harrod Survivors representatives said: “We are proud to support the survivors of Salah Fayed’s abuse and are committed to achieving justice for them, no matter what it takes.”

The group added it “looks forward to the others on whom we have credible evidence – whether abusers themselves or enablers facilitating that abuse – being exposed in due course”.

Salah was one of the three Fayed brothers who co-owned Harrods.

The business, which was sold to Qatar Holdings when Mohamed al Fayed retired in 2010, has said it “supports the bravery of these women in coming forward”.

A statement issued by the famous store on Thursday evening continued: “We encourage these survivors to come forward and make their claims to the Harrods scheme, where they can apply for compensation, as well as support from a counselling perspective and through an independent survivor advocate.

“We also hope that they are looking at every appropriate avenue to them in their pursuit of justice, whether that be Harrods, the police or the Fayed family and estate.”

The Justice for Harrods Survivors group previously said more than 400 people had contacted them regarding accusations about Mohamed al Fayed, who died last year.

One of those alleged to have been abused is Bianca Gascoigne, the daughter of former England player Paul.

Speaking to Sky News in October, Gascoigne said she was groomed and sexually assaulted by al Fayed when she worked at Harrods as a teenager.

UK

Wes Streeting ‘crossed the line’ by opposing assisted dying in public, says Labour peer Harriet Harman

Published

9 hours ago

November 15, 2024

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Wes Streeting 'crossed the line' by opposing assisted dying in public, says Labour peer Harriet Harman

Wes Streeting “crossed the line” by opposing assisted dying in public and the argument shouldn’t “come down to resources”, a Labour peer has said.

Speaking on Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction podcast, Baroness Harriet Harman criticised the health secretary for revealing how he is going to vote on the matter when it comes before parliament later this month.

MPs are being given a free vote, meaning they can side with their conscience and not party lines, so the government is supposed to be staying neutral.

But Mr Streeting has made clear he will vote against legalising assisted dying, citing concerns end-of-life care is not good enough for people to make an informed choice, and that some could feel pressured into the decision to save the NHS money.

He has also ordered a review into the potential costs of changing the law, warning it could come at the expense of other NHS services if implemented.

Baroness Harman said Mr Streeting has “crossed the line in two ways”.

👉 Click here to listen to Electoral Dysfunction on your podcast app 👈

“He should not have said how he was going to vote, because that breaches neutrality and sends a signal,” she said.

“And secondly… he’s said the problem is that it will cost money to bring in an assisted dying measure, and therefore he will have to cut other services.

“But paradoxically, he also said it would be a slippery slope because people will be forced to bring about their own death in order to save the NHS money. Well, it can’t be doing both things.

“It can’t be both costing the NHS money and saving the NHS money.”

Baroness Harman said the argument “should not come down to resources” as it is a “huge moral issue” affecting “only a tiny number of people”.

She added that people should not mistake Mr Streeting for being “a kind of proxy for Keir Starmer”.

“The government is genuinely neutral and all of those backbenchers, they can vote whichever way they want,” she added.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has previously expressed support for assisted dying, but it is not clear how he intends to vote on the issue or if he will make his decision public ahead of time.

The cabinet has varying views on the topic, with the likes of Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood siding with Mr Streeting in her opposition but Energy Secretary Ed Miliband being for it.

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is being championed by Labour backbencher Kim Leadbeater, who wants to give people with six months left to live the choice to end their lives.

Under her proposals, two independent doctors must confirm a patient is eligible for assisted dying and a High Court judge must give their approval.

The bill will also include punishments of up to 14 years in prison for those who break the law, including coercing someone into ending their own life.

MPs will debate and vote on the legislation on 29 November, in what will be the first Commons vote on assisted dying since 2015, when the proposal was defeated.