Behind the image of a “hilarious” gas and the scent of strawberry or vanilla added to the new canisters, hides a clinical reality of incredible violence.
Dr Wilfrid Casseron, neurologist in Aix-en-Provence, is sounding the alarm: what was only a marginal practice has become a public health emergency. “We can no longer consider nitrous oxide as an ordinary consumer good” he insists. “Today, not a week goes by without me being asked for examinations on patients who have consumed this product.“.
Between festive carefreeness and neurological drama
The expert describes a shift in uses, moving from a small evening ball to solitary and massive consumption. “The 20 year old who tells me “Doctor, I didn’t know it was dangerous”, I can’t believe it” confides the doctor. “When you inhale the equivalent of 300 to 500 capsules per day, intrinsically, you know you’re doing something stupid. But the spiral of psychological addiction is there, extremely powerful.”
This cry of medical alert echoes the “shock of authority” desired by the government, while hospitals are seeing younger and younger patients arriving, already seriously ill.
A “shock of authority”: what will change with the new law
Faced with the explosion in the misuse of nitrous oxide, the Minister of the Interior, Laurent Nuñez, announced this Tuesday, March 24, a radical toughening. Gas will enter the Penal Code as a narcotic.
Three new major offenses will come into force, after the adoption of a bill which will punish:
- Consumption: punishable by one year in prison and a fine of €3,750;
- Transport without legitimate reason: two years in prison and €7,500 fine;
- Driving under the influence: three years in prison and a €9,000 fine, with a risk of automatic cancellation of your driving license.
The sale is also under close surveillance: ban at night and immediate administrative closures for grocery stores which continue to supply the canisters.
Illegal sales will also be punished with up to six months in prison and a fine of 7,500 euros with the possibility of a fixed criminal fine of 500 euros.
Offending businesses will be subject to administrative closure. “Significant progress” according to Laurent Nuñez.
“300 to 1,000 capsules per day”: the explosion of doses
On the ground, Dr Casseron’s findings are terrifying. We went from small silver cartridges to massive canisters containing hundreds of doses. This product mutation has made consumption “industrial”.
“Some young people inhale the equivalent of 1,000 capsules per day, sometimes for months.he explains. The problem ? The danger is biological and often invisible during the first examinations. Nitrous oxide inactivates a vital enzyme, rendering vitamin B12 unusable by the body. However, without B12, the nerves die.
“Sometimes vitamin levels in the blood are normal, but it is unavailable in tissues“, specifies the neurologist. The consequences are threefold:
- Spinal cord damage: destruction of the posterior cords which manage balance;
- Peripheral neuropathies: the nerves of the limbs go out. “We see paraplegic patients, with muscle weakness such that they can no longer stand up.“deplores Dr Casseron;
- Psychiatric disorders: severe anxiety, psychoses and lasting intellectual slowing.
After-effects: 50% of patients do not fully recover
This is the darkest point of the file. If massive vitamin B12 supplementation and intensive physiotherapy rehabilitation are implemented, they do not guarantee a return to normal.
“About half of my patients have permanent clinical or neurophysiological sequelae.“, warns the doctor. Chronic tingling and balance problems then become a lifelong handicap.
For Dr Casseron, the law is a necessary but insufficient step. Prevention must go beyond traditional circuits. “The ad at 9 p.m. with an actor with white hair doesn’t work. Young people no longer watch TV“.
It recommends two major axes:
- Social networks: invest TikTok and Snapchat with testimonies from young victims. “Young people who have suffered after-effects must be emissaries in their neighborhood” ;
- Parental vigilance: The product affects all environments, rural and urban, privileged and precarious alike. “The parents don’t see anything. The effect is short, the smell is masked by aromas… You should talk to your teenager about it from the age of 12 or 13 before they fall into the trap.”
he recommends.
Before concluding: “We doctors have been crying wolf for years. We are hitting a wall today, it is a real public health problem today. We therefore need a powerful legislative apparatus against sellers, but also education that comes from young people themselves.”