Many Say Laughing Gas Is Increasingly Abused

Standing outside a Stanton smoke shop, Anthony White said nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas, is the rage among young people and particularly popular at underground “rave” parties because it’s inexpensive, easy to get and powerful.

“You get a high quick and it wears out quickly so you can function normally,” the 30-year-old said. “But I don’t touch it, because it’s a killer.”

On Thursday, the gas did lead to fatalities, when a car carrying two 22-year-old women crashed into the center divider of Interstate 5 in Irvine and ignited in flames, killing both occupants.

Drug enforcement authorities said nitrous oxide is not a major problem in Orange County, but teenagers and those who work with youths say the gas is widely-used and often abused. The problem, they said, is that the gas is not properly regulated, even though it can prove to be a dangerous substance. In high concentrations, the flammable gas can make the user pass out and can cause damage to the nervous system.

“It’s a real common drug of abuse,” said Drew Pinsky, an internist who runs the chemical dependency unit at Pasadena’s Las Encinas Hospital and hosts a radio talk show on KROQ-FM. “The classic place to find it is at the rave scene, but it’s infiltrated far and wide. My understanding is that there is really no problem getting it because it seems to be at every party.”

Under California’s penal code, it is a misdemeanor to possess nitrous oxide with the intent of inhaling it to cause euphoria. But there are no laws restricting the sale of the gas, said Jeff Ferguson, a prosecutor with Orange County’s narcotics enforcement team.

Indeed, the gas is commonly used as a propellent in cans of whipping cream--and some users have found ways to get at the gas without the cream. Many medical and oxygen supply firms also sell the gas, although most adhere to a code of ethics requiring doctors or dentists who purchase it to provide a medical license.

However, there are businesses that will sell nitrous oxide to anyone who wants to buy it.

“You can get a tank and fill it up at an oxygen supply place,” said Terrance, 19, a regular nitrous oxide user who requested that his last name not be used. “It’s not hard at all to get it, and people like it because it just makes you feel good.”

Another user, Bill, 19, said the gas makes him feel as though he’s “in a tunnel with airplanes flying above.”

“It’s a good high,” he said, while standing with friends outside the Stanton smoke shop. He said people take 50-pound tanks of nitrous oxide to rave parties and then charge $5 for each person to inhale it. “It’s real popular,” he said.

Angel Johnson, a spokeswoman for the California Highway Patrol, said she remembers a crash about six months ago, involving a 19-year-old man who purchased a tank of nitrous oxide from a vendor on a Santa Ana street corner.

“If parents see their kids with a scuba diving tank and their kids don’t scuba dive, that’s a definite warning,” she said. “It’s really dangerous.”

The women involved in Thursday’s crash were spotted inhaling gas through a balloon before the tank in their 1994 Hyundai Excel caught on fire and the driver lost control of the vehicle, Johnson said.

The passenger, Laura L. McKannay of Flagstaff, Ariz., died at the scene of the crash. The driver, Nina Rennie of Costa Mesa, was rescued from the car but she died late Tuesday at UCI Medical Center in Orange, authorities said.

“What we think happened is that they were driving along and for some reason, the gas ignited,” Johnson said. “The passenger had the tank between her legs and filled it in a balloon. She took the balloon and sucked air out of it. Because nitrous oxide is flammable, gas can build up and catch on fire.”

Johnson said investigators believe the tank contained nitrous oxide, although its contents won’t be known until next week.

Nitrous oxide is commonly used by dentists or anesthesiologists when they want to desensitize patients to pain, said Cynthia Anderson, chair of anesthesiology at UCI Medical Center.

“Initially the patient will feel tingly and very good and then they can get kind of a high,” she said. “If they breathe higher concentrations, their judgment will be affected and they will become sleepy. Under extremely high concentrations, they will lose consciousness. It’s an agent that could be very dangerous if it’s not used properly.”

Nitrous oxide also is used to make cars more powerful, but the gas that’s sold by auto supply shops contain sulfur, which acts as an irritant, said George Ullrich, owner of Speed-o-Motive in Santa Fe Springs, which sells the gas.

“You can’t buy the medical grade here,” he said.

Ferguson said he’s heard stories about people using nitrous oxide, but that the district attorney’s office doesn’t consider it a major problem.

“We haven’t seen any statistics on it or haven’t heard about its use on a large scale,” he said. “It’s one of those anomalies that you notice when a tragedy occurs.”