Canisters of substance, also known as laughing gas, are being seen across beauty spots, with teenagers using them for a fix.
The rise in the number of discarded canisters being found has promoted political leaders to necessitate more stringent restrictions and more imposing punishment for those who traffic them.
Concerns have been raised directly with Home Secretary Priti Patel, and leaders have called on parents of teenagers to talk to their loved ones and make them understand the gravity of the problem, which in extreme cases can be deadly.
West Midlands Police chiefs have also called for raised awareness of the substance, with bosses forming a partnership with Dudley Council to crack down on the problem.
Discarded silver canisters have been seen dotted across parks and open land in the region, with some regions more prevalent in the use than others.
Jane Stevenson, MP for Wolverhampton North East, said she had raised the matter with the Government after becoming especially concerned over the number of canisters.
And she said that she knows many parents in Wolverhampton are concerned about the growing use of Nitrous Oxide by young people and that she’s raised those concerns with the Home Secretary directly.
She further said that throughout lockdown, that their parks and streets had been littered with the discarded silver canisters that the gas is sold in.
There’s also the problem that children are able to access this possibly life-threatening psychoactive drug and it must be addressed, although the Government has already shut down retailers found selling it illegally.
However, more needs to be done, and Jane Stevenson said that she will work with ministers to ensure that this is the case, but that she’s very concerned about the number of canisters she sees around the capital, particularly when they’re on the roadside, having been thrown out of car windows, and that nobody should be putting their lives in danger.
In Dudley, council chiefs are working alongside West Midlands Police as part of the ‘No Laughing Matter’ campaign in an attempt to raise awareness of the problem and to encourage others to report the activity.
Constant use of transparent gas can lead to an increased heart rate, swelling on the brain, nerve impairment and anaemia, as well as throat and lung damage.
It slows a person’s brain and body responses down and can lead to them becoming unconscious, or suffocating from a lack of oxygen and about five people in the United Kingdom die a year from inhaling the drug.
This drug is clearly too easy to obtain and should, of course, be rigorously controlled, although it will still be sold because there’s money to be made from it.
That doesn’t mean we can’t reach out to young people so that we can try to educate them and help them understand that it’s okay to say no to drugs and it’s not only in Wolverhampton, residents said that antisocial behaviour linked to taking Nitrous Oxide, otherwise known as laughing gas had become a significant concern in Tower Hamlets, London.
And the council and Tower Hamlets Homes have received grievances from local people who find it threatening seeing crowds of people taking Nitrous Oxide, which further causes a noise problem and the small metal canisters that contain it are frequently left on the floor as litter.
And even though the gas was previously a legal high, it’s now illegal to supply or import Nitrous Oxide for personal use and to crack down on antisocial behaviour including the use of Nitrous Oxide, the council is paying for 14 new police officers to patrol the housing estates operated by Tower Hamlets Homes.
