NITROUS OXIDE SALES MAY BE ILLEGAL

Christchurch: Christchurch retailers selling nitrous oxide, known as
laughing gas, as a recreational drug may be breaking the law, according to
the Health Ministry.

Youth workers have reported a rise in the abuse of the gas, due to its easy
availability at nightclubs and late-night booths in the inner city.

A home-delivery operation has started up, advertising on the radio, while
dairies are also popular sources of the gas.

Some retailers claim to only sell the gas for whipping cream, but one,
Castle of Magic owner Tony Shipley, has admitted to selling the gas as a
cheap high. Mr Shipley's staff also sell the gas in nightclubs.

The Health Ministry's public health programmes manager Graeme Gillespie
said businesses like Mr Shipley's could be illegal.

"Any retailer who sells nitrous oxide without having reason to believe the
customer has a legitimate use, or knowing that it may be abused by inhaling
it as a recreational drug, may run the risk of breaching the Medicines Act."

Ministry staff were unable to specify the penalties for breaching the Act.

Mr Gillespie said retailers were expected to sell only to legitimate
customers intending to use the gas "appropriately, such as using it as a
food additive".

The gas is classified as a food additive propellant under the Food Act
1981, and as a prescription medicine under the Medicines Act 1981.

Acting director of public health Douglas Lush said the sale of the gas for
inhalation was covered under current legislation, and there were no plans
to make it a controlled substance.

"However, we can't rule out changes in the future."

The misuse of nitrous oxide was considered a low public health risk,
although individuals misusing it could experience immediate adverse effects
such as nausea and vomiting.

Possible long-term adverse effects included damage to bone marrow and the
nervous system, as well as depletion of the body's vitamin B12 level, which
could cause impaired memory and mental function. Some of these effects
could be permanent.

Dr Lush said misusing nitrous oxide also posed the risk of suffocation.

"Several deaths have been recorded overseas, and frostbite and tissue
damage can result from the low temperatures encountered if it's inhaled as
it is expelled directly from a canister," he said.

New Zealand Food Safety Authority's technical standards programme manager
Jenny Bishop said any action against retailers would be enforced by the
Health Ministry's Medsafe unit.

The Food Safety Authority had acted before in co-operation with retailers
to regulate the supply of otherwise safe foodstuffs being misused as drugs.

"When [the product] got popular, we got retailers to stop selling it in
bulk, and the problem went away."

But the authority lacked any legislative powers to act on the issue, she said.