A new report by experts from the British Medical Journal (BMJ) has revealed that there has been “a visible mark of the increasing incidence of nitrous oxide (N2O) misuse” since lockdown began.
Nitrous oxide – also known as laughing gas, “hippie crack”, balloons and nos – is the second most popular drug amongst young people in the UK.
Its popularity is believed to be due to the fact that it is cheap and easy to get hold of.
As defined by FRANK, nitrous oxide is “a colourless gas most commonly found in pressurised metal canisters [which] you may have seen lying around in streets outside bars and nightclubs”.
It is often consumed by “transferring the gas into a container (usually a balloon), then inhaling from the balloon” and this is because “inhaling nitrous oxide directly from the canister is very dangerous [as] the gas is under such high pressure, which can cause a spasm of the throat muscle and stop a person breathing.”
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Nitrous oxide slows down brain and body responses and the effects of the drug is known to vary depending on how much has been inhaled.
Negative side effects of the inhalation of nitrous oxide include severe headaches, dizziness, inability to think straight and short-lived, but intense feelings of paranoia. Regular use can stop you forming white blood cells properly and heavy regular use can result in deficiency of vitamin B12. Severe B12 deficiency can lead to serious nerve damage, causing tingling and numbness in the fingers and toes – this can be very painful and make walking difficult.
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More serious side effects range from the risk of falling unconscious and/or suffocating from the lack of oxygen, which can/has lead to death.
The supply of nitrous oxide as a recreational drug is illegal under the UK’s Psychoactive Substances Act 2016, however, this does not appear to have acted as a deterrent in illicit drug use.
A tweet by Twitter user @sixkenza, calling for ‘cancelling’ balloons, has recently brought nitrous oxide inhalation into mainstream conversation once again. The tweet contained a screenshot of a personal account by a sufferer of severe side effects from nitrous oxide inhalation, which left her hospitalised.
The chilling statement featured in the tweet read: “Balloons.”
“We all do them, use them and abuse them, but never think about the long term effects. I have lost all feeling in both [legs], I have collapsed in public multiple times and that’s why I came to hospital.”
“My legs had been feeling numb for a couple weeks now, but I expected it to go away. I have no balance, no brain and leg coordination and no reflexes in my legs whatsoever. I have a long road to recovery and the recovery isn’t even 100%. I have to have injections daily and for the rest of my life. MRI scans and physio to learn how to walk again.”
“This isn’t a joke”.
“I will never touch a balloon again and I hope this is a wake up all to all of you. Your effects won’t be immediate, they will creep up on you slowly, so please stop doing them because they can leave you paralysed for life.”
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The tweet subsequently went viral since posting, going on to amass well over 8,000 retweets, 17,000 likes and hundreds of responses from people expressing shock and their own messages of warning, as well as sharing accounts of similar experiences and stories.
Honestly this should be a wake up call for a lot of you! No one thinks about the seriousness of it until something bad happens to them. I have and always will be against them however pathetic it may sound 🤷🏽♀️ https://t.co/7c2zmNVKeK
Rather worryingly, a few of the tweet responses also seemed to indicate a confusion on the correlation between balloons and nitrous oxide.
Some tweets revealed that people were unaware it was nitrous oxide contained within balloons and others even appeared to be under the assumption the substance filling the balloons that are referred to in the statement in question was actually helium.
This just highlights how much uncertainty there is and potentially offers explanation as to why such tragic situations may occur.
Whilst it’s wrong to claim that the negative side effects of nitrous oxide inhalation are not widely known, regularly discussed or previously warned against, we can only hope that the attention this tweet has and continues to receive, will go some way to serving as a wake up call for a newer generation of individuals who are seemingly appearing to abuse this drug more than ever before.
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More information on the effects of nitrous oxide can be found via FRANK here.
To read the full report by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) into the rise of N2O consumption during lockdown, you can do so here.
News
War Child UK announce Foo Fighters charity prize draw for sold-out Manchester gig
Danny Jones
Amidst all the live music madness this week, with the intimate BRITs gigs happening, other big city centre shows and, of course, the mighty Foo Fighters coming to town, it can be hard to keep track of everything – but when we heard about a prize draw for free tickets, we couldn’t let you miss it.
That’s right, the Foos and War Child UK are getting ready to hand out limited pairs of tickets to their recently announced gig at the O2 Ritz in Manchester, which sold out in the blink of an eye.
They’re not even performing as part of BRITs Week lineup, but given it’s such a big moment for the city and an opportunity to raise money for the cause, they thought they’d throw their hats in the ring, so long as you chip in on your end.
So, ‘What’s the deal?’, we hear you ask. Well, look no further:
Put simply, all you have to do is enter the prize draw as advertised; plus, you know you’ll be doing your bit for a good cause, too, which is always an added bonus.
Given that the Ritz is already pretty much at capacity (approximately 1,500), they only have a small number of tickets to give away.
There are just four pairs up for grabs, to be specific, but with hundreds of people having already entered the charitable competition, nearly £17,000 has been raised for War Child UK already.
Incredible stuff.
For anyone still unclear on War Child’s mission, the organisation does crucial outreach not only here in Britain but all over the world, delivering emergency aid, specialist mental health support, and much more to children in need whose lives have been torn apart by conflicts across the globe.
This show, which has already generated huge funds towards those efforts through ticket sales, and local band The Covasettes are now even campaigning to get legendary frontman Dave Grohl to join them on stage after their stage times were shifted to make way for the Foo Fighters gig.
🚨 MANCHESTER UPDATE 🚨
With @foofighters playing the Ritz after us on Friday, our gig will now take place slightly earlier. Get down for doors and give the supports a night to remember!
Once again, the show itself is fully sold out, and there’s little chance you’ll find spares floating around ahead of a truly massive night.
Better still, if you are after one last lucky shot at getting yourself in that room, why not help raise some money for War Child while you’re at it?
As we’re sure you know, the gig itself is on Friday, but if you want to stand a chance, you must donate and choose your number of entries – £10 for one, three for £20, or £50 for a total of 10 entries – before 10am GMT this Thursday, 26 February.
Oldham man jailed for ‘non-contact’ child sex offences after pretending to be 15-year-old boy online
Emily Sergeant
A man from Oldham has been sentenced to time behind bars for what police have described as ‘non-contact’ child sex offences.
Ryan Greenhow appeared at Manchester Crown Square Court yesterday (Tuesday 24 February 2026) to be sentenced, after he pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to 22 counts of non-contact child sex offences – including child sexual exploitation, sharing images or film to cause alarm, causing or inciting a child aged under 16 to engage in sexual activity, and malicious communications.
The offences occurred between November 2024 and March 2025, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) confirmed.
It involved Greenhow contacting six victims via different social media platforms including WhatsApp, TikTok, and Snapchat.
The 37-year-old then blackmailed the victims into sending him indecent images.
Pretending to be a teenage boy, he would send the victims – who police say were aged between 12-15 years old at the time – an indecent image, making claims that the image depicted them when it was actually a picture of a naked woman obtained from the internet, and the proceeded to threaten to send the image to their friends and family if the victims did not do exactly as he said.
This led to Greenhow making demands for indecent images from victims across the country, in areas like Greater Manchester and Lancashire, and even further afield in Buckinghamshire.
He would go on to send numerous text messages threatening his victims, including saying: “This is your last chance, everyone will know this is you” and “I have seen your nudes, add me”. On some occasions, police say the victims would respond that she did not know what they were talking about, but kept receiving messages telling them that it was their “last chance”.
Some of the victims did send Greenhow images, and reported his activity to their parents, carers, and school teachers.
At his sentencing this week, Greenhow was jailed for seven years and four months, and will also be made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
Speaking following Greenhow’s sentencing, Detective Constable Adair, of GMP’s City of Manchester Division, said: “Greenhow used several different social media platforms pretending to be a 15-year-old boy and followed the same method with each of his victims – sending them random images obtained from the internet, falsely attributing them to the victim, then threatening to share the image with the victim’s friends and family in exchange for an indecent image of the victim.
“Once our investigation was underway, detailed phone analysis led to us identifying further victims. Officers worked to safeguard these victims from any further harm.
“This sentencing is part of our wider work to tackle child sexual exploitation and we’re committed to protecting victims and bringing offenders to justice.”
Emily Sergeant -
22nd June 2020 
