The new threat to children is that it is cheap and can be bought on the market. Because more and more young people are using laughing gas to get drunk. This trend is as dangerous as it is cheap: single-use capsules containing nitrous oxide, a substance used in the kitchen to whip cream, are used. This gas can be found on the internet and in some supermarkets, as it is also a common fuel used in spray guns. Each 8-gram cartridge, enough to inflate a balloon, costs fifty cents. Or you can buy a 660 gram can for just over thirty euros. The effect? A few minutes of laughing, dizziness and changes in the senses, accompanied by a feeling of lightness that makes the mind drift. It is not illegal in Italy, but the health risks from laughing gas are serious and can be long-lasting.
SIDE EFFECTS
A 2025 report from the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction states that recreational use of nitrous oxide can cause “poisoning, burns and lung injury and, in some cases with prolonged exposure, neurotoxicity.” Inhalation directly from the cylinder can cause frost burns, as the gas escapes at very low temperatures and high pressure, with possible damage to the respiratory tract. If you abuse “balloon medicine” or consume it indoors, you risk fainting and shortness of breath. Those who use it for a long time can interfere with the activity of vitamin B12, thereby impacting the nervous system. Therefore, tingling and feelings of weakness can lead to serious neuropathy, with damage to the spinal cord impairing leg control. In Italy there is no data to track this phenomenon. However an initiative has been launched in the Cremona region to raise awareness among the younger generation, following the discovery of tubes, capsules and balloons in places frequented by teenagers. So Piergiacomo Bonaventi, mayor of Pandino, in the province of Cremona, launched a campaign with local police this summer: «It’s just a balloon. A moment of euphoria. Then darkness. Nitrous oxide presents itself as a game, but it kills neurons,” explains Mayor, “and tricks the mind. Leaving the body without strength. It’s very easy to find it. It costs little. But it can cost everything.” That same commitment to defending children prompted Attilio Galmozzi, president of Crema’s city council and a former emergency room doctor, to create an awareness video for schools.
THE DATA
Meanwhile, several European countries have banned the sale of the substance to minors, such as France, Portugal, Sweden and several German states. The intervention was carried out in light of worrying data: 14% of young French people aged between 18 and 29 have tried gas. In the Netherlands, 35% of people under 35 who frequent nightlife use it, while in the UK the percentage is 8.7% among young people aged between 16 and 24. A phenomenon especially visible from trash: empty sprays and colored balloons. Horrible version of a children’s birthday.
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