Laughing gas inhaled by half of adults in Britain

A new study has revealed that half of all adults in Britain have inhaled the former legal high known as laughing gas.

The study was carried out by the Global Drug Survey. The resulting figures showed the shocking fact that nitrous oxide, the official name for laughing gas, has been used by at least half of the UK’s adult population.

Nitrous oxide is also commonly referred to as hippy crack and is usually inhaled from a full balloon. It has been sold on many UK high streets and it provides a distinctive but only short-term high. However, the long term effects can be far more serious and dangerous.

The study surveyed more than 100,000 people worldwide. Of those surveyed, 8.5 per cent admitted to using the gas. Of the British surveyed, which amounted to 6,015 people, 51.3 per cent admitted to using the gas, with 38 per cent of those having used the substance within the last year. There is a common misperception that the gas is not harmful, but a third of the respondents claimed to have experienced either hallucinations or confusion after use, with others citing nausea as a significant side effect.

Drug expert Adam Winstock, who was responsible for the launch of the survey, said, ‘Four percent of people were reporting persistent numbness and tingling in their fingers and toes’ while the survey’s authors cited current economic problems as a possible factor that could worsen the already serious drug problem.