Nitrous oxide: How buying laughing gas from corner shops is as ‘easy as buying a loaf of bread’
“I didn’t picture being like this at 20 years old,” says Musa as his doctor wheels him into a room in a West Midlands hospital. “I don’t know how I’ll live if the outcome is I can’t walk properly again.”
Only a matter of weeks ago, Musa, not his real name, was carefree, having fun with his friends and thinking about his future. Now, he’s facing the potentially life-changing consequences of his nitrous oxide habit.
Nitrous oxide, more commonly known as “laughing gas” or “nos”, can give users a 30-second high that makes them feel dizzy and lightweight, but the gas is no laughing matter.
Amid reports from doctors of a spike in hospitalisations, the government is now considering stricter regulations around the use and sale of the gas.
Nitrous oxide is used legitimately in hospitals, dentists and professional kitchens but supplying it for its psychoactive effects is illegal.
Suppliers can get fined and receive up to seven years in prison, but only four people have been held in relation to nitrous oxide in the West Midlands since the Psychoactive Substances Act was passed in 2016.
Musa was rushed to hospital after he woke up in the night to go to the toilet and fell to the floor. He couldn’t get back up again because he’d lost feeling in his legs and feet.
In the weeks before, Musa was consuming multiple large canisters of nitrous oxide, almost on a daily basis.
His MRI scan shows he’s developed a spinal cord abnormality, and doctors can’t yet tell when or to what extent this will repair.
“This could be a permanent thing. It’s messed up my life. I’ve got dreams and ambitions,” Musa says, anxiously rubbing his knuckles.
The government is considering stricter regulation around the sale and use of nitrous oxide
According to Musa, buying laughing gas canisters from corner shops is as easy as buying a loaf of bread. Residents in his neighbourhood told Sky News they had seen school-age children hanging around outside these shops breathing in the toxic gas.
So, Sky News went undercover to investigate just how easy it is to buy.
We were given a list of shops that had already been reported to West Midlands Police as suspected of selling nitrous oxide.
Our reporter walked up to the counter of the first shop and asked for a canister. The woman replied, “Yes, which one? The big one?”.
She leaned down to pick up a canister bigger than a hairspray can from below the counter, popped it in a shopping bag, and offered a receipt for our £30 purchase.
The shop assistant puts a nitrous oxide canister in our bag
The Sky News team is led out the back of the shop to a stock of canisters
Read more: Laughing gas to be banned under anti-social behaviour crackdown
The next shop we entered took us through a door in the back to their stack of nitrous oxide canisters. They asked us to hand them our rucksack and they put the canister inside, no questions asked.
The shops didn’t ask how old we were or what we intended to do with the nitrous oxide, every shop added in a packet of party balloons which are commonly used to inhale the gas.
Dr David Nicholl, the clinical lead for neurology at Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust, says he sees dozens of patients aged 16-24 years old admitted to his ward every month for nitrous oxide abuse.
He says this is a huge rise from previous years and claims admissions have increased since large canister brands began to flood the market in 2021.
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While laughing gas is legal, it’s illegal to sell it knowingly for recreational use.
That rise is echoed in other cities. Data provided by the London Ambulance Service show that 999 calls for incidents relating to nitrous oxide more than tripled in a year, with 65 calls recorded in 2021, and 213 in 2022, up from 36 calls in 2018.
These patients can suffer from a range of problems, from loss of mobility to mental health issues and sexual dysfunction. Two nitrous oxide patients have even had to have drains inserted into their brains to save their eyesight.
In very severe cases the consequences can be deadly, with nitrous oxide related to the deaths of 62 people since 2001.
“Maybe once every five or six years, I’ll see a patient who’s had a stroke from taking cocaine. Yet, every week, I’m seeing this in my ward. So from my point of view, this is actually a bigger problem,” he said.
Dr Nicholl is aware of the easy availability of toxic gas in corner shops, and would like to see tougher policing of suppliers.
Minister for policing, Chris Philp, has called on the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs to provide advice on tackling nitrous oxide abuse by the end of February.
“It shouldn’t be legal, definitely not,” Musa says. “There’s been times I’ve been in a car with a balloon bigger than the size of my head.”
But some think a clamp down on nitrous oxide use is unwise.
Harry Sumnall, a professor in substance use at Liverpool John Moores University said: “Drug laws are a blunt instrument and are not an effective health improvement tool for users.
“Criminalisation actually poses the risk that users could be diverted to other substances, and if it becomes illegal they might be encouraged to buy from the dark web.
“There are more than 600,000 nitrous oxide users in the UK, and most people, if they are using it, are going to be using it a few times a year, at really low levels of risk.”
Sky News tried to buy laughing gas at corner shops as part of our investigation
Since we last spoke to him, Musa has been discharged from hospital. He went home on crutches, still uncertain whether he will be able to walk properly again.
The government has given itself till the end of this month to start working on a solution, but any action it might take will come too late for people like Musa.
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.
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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.”
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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.
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.
Mohamed al Fayed. Pic: AP
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”.
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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.”
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Bianca Gascoigne speaks about Al Fayed abuse
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
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”.
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“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.”
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Review into assisted dying costs
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.
Read more on this story:
‘Fix care before assisted dying legislation’
Why assisted dying is controversial – and where it’s already legal
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.
Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband is said to support the bill. Pic: Reuters
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has concerns. Pic: Reuters
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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.
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Labour MP Kim Leadbeater discusses End of Life Bill
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.
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