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.
people forget that nitrous oxide is literally used when women give BIRTH and even that is mixed with 50% oxygen, whyyy would you inhale that voluntarily pls,
Balloons are literally the reason I have fits and lose my memory a lot, literally all year last year I was having MRI scans and currently waiting for an appointment to go Sheffield hospital for radiotherapy, from jan 2019 I was havin seizures between 6-12 times a week, stupidity https://t.co/d7jMfusozC
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
we need to stop thinking we’re bulletproof ? i thought i was until i experienced the scariest 20 seconds of my life which felt like 20 minutes. couldn’t speak, hear or see anything followed my severe panic attacks and difficulty breathing for hours. they are SO dangerous !! https://t.co/verxTJHOVx
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
Beloved plant-based independent street food business Herbivorous is set to close imminently
Danny Jones
We hate writing this, but we have news of yet another local hospitality closure as beloved Manchester-born and pioneering plant-based brand Herbivorous has confirmed they’ll soon be calling it a day.
If you can hear us sighing through the screen, apologies – we’re just getting really fed up of saying farewell to our favourites, so god knows how rubbish those involved feel.
As you can see, the team behind the multi-location vegan street food specialists began by writing: “It’s a long one so stay with me… It seems you can’t open social media at the moment without reading about another hospitality business closing down.
“Throughout 8 years of Herbivorous years we’ve come up against many challenges from Covid 5 years ago to watching all the big vegan brands from London and beyond come to Manchester and largely disappear again to the closure of Hatch our busiest site, but with continually increasing costs its becoming really difficult to maintain a thriving business.”
Herbivorous started out life back in 2016 as a cult hit at the old outdoor food, drink and entertainment hub centring around a ‘container village’, the first of its kind in the city and soon to reopen under new owners and a new name.
Since then, co-founders Robyn and Damian have gone on to expand not just to one permanent site over in Withington but with outposts in Sheffield and York, having gained a strong reputation with stalls and pop-ups all over.
Their hospitality story might not have the ending we personally would hope for, but it’s been a brilliant one for so many foodie fans – us lot included.
Nevertheless, they go on to add in the emotional statement that external pressures such as a recent bereavement and their own ever-growing family have also contributed to the decision which, despite being an understandably hard one, “feel like the right time.”
“We are so incredibly proud of how far we’ve come from spending long days slinging duck wraps from our green vintage horse box at festivals to three Herbi locations across the North of England”, they continue, “and with that we’ve also met so many fantastic people!”
“Whether you worked for us at a few festivals over [the] summer or for years at our restaurant, we just wanted to say and massive thank you! The memories will stay with us forever and, of course, how can we not mention our fabulous customers!
“Thank you all so much for choosing Herbivorous over the years. Those of you who had our food at Festivals and then found us at one of our permanent locations, those of you who came back week after week to Hatch, Spark, Withington and beyond.”
They signed off by detailing their final business days, with their Sheffield Kommune spot having already shut for refurbishment; meanwhile, their spot in SPARK York will be wrapping up on Saturday, 19 April.
As for their flagship brick-and-mortar venue here in Greater Manchester, Herbivorous Withington will be shutting on Friday, 25 April.
Once again, there’s nothing we can say other than thank you for years of delicious food, that we’re guttted to see you go, and that everyone at The Manc Group wishes you the best whatever comes next.
AJ Tracey is playing a VERY intimate gig in Manchester next month
Thomas Melia
London rapper and respected grime artist AJ Tracey is ‘live and direct’ once again, announcing a whole host of UK dates, one of which is a rather intimate gig right here in Manchester.
It’s official: one of UK rap’s leading gents is getting back on the road and he’s showing a ‘Little More Love’ to lots of cities, including Manchester.
In a post on the UK star’s socials, AJ Tracey trades his music persona for that of a sports pundit as he announces the dates for his upcoming tour while impersonating an F1 commentator.
Anyone looking to attend Tracey’s ‘Not Even A Tour’ can catch the star up and down the country on his over 20-date tour with a stop in Manchester as soon as this month.
The rapper has reached phenomenal heights since dropping the unforgettable ‘Ladbroke Grove’ in 2019 and is heading out across the nation to make sure everyone knows about it.
Get ready to spit bars left and right as this rapper’s discography is stacked with serious tunes like ‘Dinner Guest’, ‘West Ten’, ‘Thiago Silva’ and more.
More recently, he collaborated with Walsall’s finest Jorja Smith for a flirty garage beat also known as ‘Crush’ with the video being the two artists talking it out in a good old fashioned caff.
The latest collaboration with Smith marks the start of a new era for Mr. Live and direct as it fell in line with the announcement of his third studio album.
Titled Don’t Die Before You’re Dead, we’re sure he’ll be “building a vibe” wherever he goes and probably previewing a few exclusive tracks from his upcoming project too.
This gig may come as quite a surprise for any hardcore fans of the ‘Ladbroke Grove’ star as the venue in which he’s performing is definitely intimate only, holding just over 250 guests.
This rap giant is bringing his unbelievable beats to none other than the legendary small-cap city centre live music venue, The Deaf Institute, at the end of this month.
It’s safe to say you won’t get many more chances, if any, to see him in such a tight-knit space again.
AJ Tracey is bringing ‘Not Even A Tour’ to Deaf Institute in Manchester on 30 April, with tickets on sale Friday 4 April from 12 noon.
Emily Sergeant -
22nd June 2020 
