Long placed in the festive products section, the
nitrous oxide is now emerging as a public health problem. Serious accidents, sometimes fatal, young people paralyzed after a simple evening: reports of poisoning are exploding all over France, to the point that the State is now choosing to hit hard on the screens.
This Tuesday, the Minister Delegate in charge of Citizenship, Marie-Pierre Vedrenne, launches a shock campaign against nitrous oxidecentered on its misused use in the evening, inhaled in balloons. “I want young people, by seeing this campaign, to realize that they are putting their lives, their future and the lives of others in danger.“, she explains in a press release.
Nitrous oxide: why a shock campaign now
Initially used in medicine or for whipped cream siphons, “laughing gas” is today misused for its euphoric effects. According to the Ministry of the Interior, its inhalation “causes disorientation, dizziness and loss of reflexes within seconds. It alters the state of consciousness and makes all driving particularly dangerous“.
The figures collected by the Ministry of the Interior paint a worrying picture: between 2022 and 2023, reports of poisoning have increased three-fold and serious cases four-fold, 10% involving minors. “Nitrous oxide is not a game. It is a poison that destroys lives. When a danger becomes trivial, it becomes massive and when it becomes massive, it becomes deadly. I refuse to allow our youth to pay the price for this indifference. To tell the truth is to protect. To act is to save. Behind a few seconds of euphoria, there can be lifelong paralysis, or worse, death. We will not let this lie take hold: this product kills. The Government will be there: to prevent, to protect, to hold accountable and to punish without weakness those who put lives in danger“, declared Marie-Pierre Vedrenne.
The scourge of nitrous oxide in a few figures
- Reports of poisoning linked to nitrous oxide have increased threefold, serious cases have increased fourfold over the same period;
- 59% of reports correspond to repeated use over more than a year;
- 50% describe daily consumption;
- 10% concern minors. KEY FIGURES between 2022 and 2023;
- 80% of reports indicate neurological disorders
Sometimes irreversible damage
On True Medical, neurologist Wilfrid Casseron warned at the end of March about the sometimes irreversible physical damage that he is increasingly faced with in his patients. “We can no longer consider nitrous oxide as an ordinary consumer good. Today, not a week goes by without me being asked for examinations on patients who have consumed this product.“.
Because occasional consumption associated with immediate danger is not the only scourge.
“Some young people inhale the equivalent of 1,000 capsules per day, sometimes for months.he explains. And nitrous oxide inactivates a vital enzyme, rendering vitamin B12 unusable by the body. And without B12, nerves die. 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. “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.” the specialist then estimated.
A very visual shock campaign, between support and doubts
The campaign is based on a film and carousels broadcast from April 7 on the main social networks, then from April 12 on television, on TF1, France Télévisions and M6. “I want a very trashy campaign that clearly shows the harmfulness“, summarized Marie-Pierre Vedrenne to France 3 Nouvelle Aquitaine.
Some young people say they approve of this direct tone: “You have to be trashy, you have to tell the truth“, confides a high school student from Limoges, quoted by the Ministry of the Interior.
The RIPOST bill strengthens repression around nitrous oxide
This campaign accompanies the RIPOST bill worn by Laurent Nuñez. This law intends to bring new penalties: Inhaling nitrous oxide outside of a medical setting would become an offense, punishable by a sentence of one year in prison and a fine of 3,750 euros; carrying protoxide without legitimate reason will be punishable by 2 years in prison and a fine of 7,500 euros; illegally selling nitrous oxide will be punished with 6 months’ imprisonment and a fine of 7,500 euros; offending businesses will be subject to administrative closure; driving under the influence would be punishable by 3 years in prison and a fine of 9,000 euros.
For families already affected, mothers of victims remind us that this can happen to anyone. Free support is offered by Drogues Info Service on 0 800 23 13 13.