poledriver
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'Hippy crack' party drug warning amid fears Australians will follow UK spike in nitrous oxide use
DRUG experts have warned of the risks associated with the laughing gas nitrous oxide, dubbed 'hippy crack', amid fears Australians will follow the British trend of using the legal inhalant as a common party drug.
An escalating number of young Brits are taking hits of the intoxicating gas in nightclubs, parties and music festivals and several celebrities have been caught inhaling the "legal high".
An Australian drugs researcher says the common use of nitrous oxide threatens to become popular here and will only add to the modern battle against new and unknown substances arriving on the drug scene almost weekly.
Professor Jake Najman, director of the Alcohol and Drug Research and Education Centre at the University of Queensland, said nitrous oxide was "dirt cheap", legal and readily available.
"It's a small world ... if there are kids using (nitrous oxide) in the UK this is going to sort of sweep a lot of world you would think.
It's something that is likely to come here," Prof Najman said.
"It's a perfectly legal product, that's the problem."
A British substances abuse group has told Australians not to follow the trend in England, where low-grade celebrities have been caught in nightclubs inhaling nitrous oxide from balloons.
Stephen Ream, director of British substance abuse charity Re-Solv, fears the use of nitrous oxide is becoming "normalised" and will lead to abuse and other dangerous drugs.
British government statistics report more than 350,000 young people as having used hippy crack as a party or festival drug in the past year.
"We are worried that the popularity of this practice might be normalising the inhalation of gases to get high, and could potentially lead to inhaling butane from aerosols or cigarette lighter refills,
an altogether different substance that does have significant risks," Mr Ream said.
He said Australia "should be worried by the increasing popularity of the misuse of nitrous oxide".
King Cross Liquor Accord boss Douglas Grand says he will seek advice from police and report to pubs and clubs in his district with warnings about nitrous oxide.
He said licenced venues spent millions of dollars every year increasing measures to keep patrons safe and the introduction of fad party drugs were a constant nightmare.
"If it happens overseas there's obviously a danger that someone follows or copies (it here)," Mr Grand said.
He said he expected Australian venues to discourage the activity.
"Anything else that comes into the industry which creates a danger is just not good," Mr Grand said.
Nitrous oxide is legal to buy in Australia and most commonly used as an aerosol spray propellant. It is also known as "whippets" because the canister of nitrous oxide found in whipped cream is the most popular source of the gas.
According to the National Drug Strategy Household Survey in 2010, nearly 4 per cent of Australians aged over 14 have used inhalants at some stage in their life.
The use of nitrous oxide, which has never been accurately measured in Australia, is "usually experimental", said Geoff Munro, the national policy manager of the Australian Drug Foundation.
However, he said it was possible to become "physically and psychologically dependent on inhalants" and long term use could be fatal.
"Nitrous oxide inhalation can displace the oxygen in a user's lungs, resulting in unconsciousness and suffocation, which can lead to brain damage or death."
NITROUS OXIDE
- Street names: Nangers, nangs, whippets, hippy crack
- Inhalant, usually consumed to feel intoxicated or high
- Short-lasting effects, often used in conjunction with alcohol
- Short term effects include euphoria, numbness of the body, giddiness, light-headedness, distorted perceptions and anxiety
- Long term use, though rare, has been associated with learning and memory problems
- Can displace the oxygen in a user's lungs, resulting in unconsciousness and suffocation, which can lead to brain damage or death
- 4 per cent of Australians aged 14 and older have used inhalant drugs (National Drug Strategy Household Survey)
Source: Australian Drug Foundation
DRUG experts have warned of the risks associated with the laughing gas nitrous oxide, dubbed 'hippy crack', amid fears Australians will follow the British trend of using the legal inhalant as a common party drug.
An escalating number of young Brits are taking hits of the intoxicating gas in nightclubs, parties and music festivals and several celebrities have been caught inhaling the "legal high".
An Australian drugs researcher says the common use of nitrous oxide threatens to become popular here and will only add to the modern battle against new and unknown substances arriving on the drug scene almost weekly.
Professor Jake Najman, director of the Alcohol and Drug Research and Education Centre at the University of Queensland, said nitrous oxide was "dirt cheap", legal and readily available.
"It's a small world ... if there are kids using (nitrous oxide) in the UK this is going to sort of sweep a lot of world you would think.
It's something that is likely to come here," Prof Najman said.
"It's a perfectly legal product, that's the problem."
A British substances abuse group has told Australians not to follow the trend in England, where low-grade celebrities have been caught in nightclubs inhaling nitrous oxide from balloons.
Stephen Ream, director of British substance abuse charity Re-Solv, fears the use of nitrous oxide is becoming "normalised" and will lead to abuse and other dangerous drugs.
British government statistics report more than 350,000 young people as having used hippy crack as a party or festival drug in the past year.
"We are worried that the popularity of this practice might be normalising the inhalation of gases to get high, and could potentially lead to inhaling butane from aerosols or cigarette lighter refills,
an altogether different substance that does have significant risks," Mr Ream said.
He said Australia "should be worried by the increasing popularity of the misuse of nitrous oxide".
King Cross Liquor Accord boss Douglas Grand says he will seek advice from police and report to pubs and clubs in his district with warnings about nitrous oxide.
He said licenced venues spent millions of dollars every year increasing measures to keep patrons safe and the introduction of fad party drugs were a constant nightmare.
"If it happens overseas there's obviously a danger that someone follows or copies (it here)," Mr Grand said.
He said he expected Australian venues to discourage the activity.
"Anything else that comes into the industry which creates a danger is just not good," Mr Grand said.
Nitrous oxide is legal to buy in Australia and most commonly used as an aerosol spray propellant. It is also known as "whippets" because the canister of nitrous oxide found in whipped cream is the most popular source of the gas.
According to the National Drug Strategy Household Survey in 2010, nearly 4 per cent of Australians aged over 14 have used inhalants at some stage in their life.
The use of nitrous oxide, which has never been accurately measured in Australia, is "usually experimental", said Geoff Munro, the national policy manager of the Australian Drug Foundation.
However, he said it was possible to become "physically and psychologically dependent on inhalants" and long term use could be fatal.
"Nitrous oxide inhalation can displace the oxygen in a user's lungs, resulting in unconsciousness and suffocation, which can lead to brain damage or death."
NITROUS OXIDE
- Street names: Nangers, nangs, whippets, hippy crack
- Inhalant, usually consumed to feel intoxicated or high
- Short-lasting effects, often used in conjunction with alcohol
- Short term effects include euphoria, numbness of the body, giddiness, light-headedness, distorted perceptions and anxiety
- Long term use, though rare, has been associated with learning and memory problems
- Can displace the oxygen in a user's lungs, resulting in unconsciousness and suffocation, which can lead to brain damage or death
- 4 per cent of Australians aged 14 and older have used inhalant drugs (National Drug Strategy Household Survey)
Source: Australian Drug Foundation
