Beware of "laughing gas": seemingly harmless but dangerous temptation

Image from CCTV News

Author Duan Yuechu

Recently, Zhejiang police checked a car trunk and found it was full of pink "thermos bottles". The driver looked nervous and the police judged that the situation was abnormal. After investigation, it was found that these bottles were filled with "laughing gas".

In social situations among young people, the words "balloon" and "cream gas bomb" may be familiar to them. They refer to "laughing gas". This name sounds lighthearted and pleasant, but it actually hides huge harm.

"Laughing gas", chemical name is nitrous oxide, chemical formula is N2O, it is a colorless, sweet gas at normal temperature and pressure. It was discovered by British chemist Joseph Priestley in 1772. In 1799, another British chemist Humphry Davy accidentally discovered that inhaling it can make people feel happy and laugh, hence the name "laughing gas". Under normal conditions, it is relatively stable and soluble in water, ethanol, ether and concentrated sulfuric acid.

Laughing gas has legitimate uses in some fields. In clinical medicine, it has anesthetic and analgesic effects and can be used with oxygen as an anesthetic. For example, in dental surgery, after inhaling laughing gas, the patient can lose the sense of pain in a short period of time while maintaining consciousness, which greatly reduces the pain during the operation. In 1844, Wells, a dentist in Boston, USA, noticed this property of laughing gas and started its application in the field of dental anesthesia, which was later expanded to obstetric analgesia and mental illness treatment. In the food processing industry, it can be used as a food additive in the spray can of whipped cream to make the cream more fluffy, and it can also extend the storage life of seeds such as lychee and longan, as well as the shelf life of fruits such as bananas and tomatoes. In the industrial field, it can be used as a propellant in the aerospace industry and as a combustion aid for racing cars; in the electronics industry, it is an important electronic specialty gas used to manufacture electronic thin films for electronic devices such as semiconductors, liquid crystals, light-emitting diodes and integrated circuits.

In recent years, "laughing gas" has been abused in non-medical scenarios and has become an "invisible killer" that endangers the physical and mental health of young people. Many young people have been misled into thinking that "laughing gas" is not a drug and will not be addictive, and they start to smoke it out of curiosity or the pursuit of excitement. From a professional point of view, after the human body inhales a large amount of "laughing gas", it will produce a strong sense of separation. After it enters the brain, it accumulates rapidly, blocking the brain's oxygen supply, causing poisoning, and impairing cognitive ability and memory. At the same time, hypoxia can excite the cerebral cortex and make people feel euphoric, but this pleasure is short-lived and will have serious consequences.

When the human body inhales high concentrations of "laughing gas", the oxygen saturation of the blood will drop rapidly, and symptoms such as dizziness, chest tightness, and uncontrolled limbs will appear. Long-term and large-scale inhalation will also affect the metabolism of vitamin B12 in the human body, leading to nerve damage. Some users experience numbness and weakness in the limbs, unsteady walking, and even frequent falls after a period of inhalation. Severe cases will eventually cause paralysis. Damage to the nervous system can also manifest as memory loss, difficulty concentrating, learning disabilities, depression, anxiety, hallucinations, etc. Not only that, in terms of the blood system, anemia is more common, and in severe cases, megaloblastic anemia and pancytopenia may occur; in terms of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, it can accelerate atherosclerosis, leading to myocardial infarction and stroke, and will also increase the risk of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism.

Li Wenjun, director of the Anti-drug Theory and Policy Research Center of the Chinese People's Public Security University, said that the number of people who use "laughing gas" has continued to increase in recent years, and the abusers are mainly teenagers. The simple production, low price and convenient purchase are the important reasons why "laughing gas" is easily rampant among young people.

Although "laughing gas" is not currently listed as a drug under the law, the state has included it in the "Catalogue of Dangerous Chemicals (2015)". Operations require a corresponding license, otherwise it is suspected of illegal operation. If illegal operations are carried out and market order is disrupted, the circumstances are serious and constitute the crime of illegal operation, and the offender will face legal sanctions.

We must raise public awareness of the dangers of "laughing gas", especially among young people, and include it in the key publicity content of drug prevention education. Parents need to pay close attention to their children's friendships, spending frequency, and mental state to prevent their children from being exposed to "laughing gas". Schools and communities should also strengthen publicity and education, and public security organs should continue to crack down on illegal sales, storage, and use of "laughing gas". The whole society should work together to keep "laughing gas" away from young people and protect everyone's health and safety.