Former A&E nurse says new laughing gas law is 'very important' but charity questions severity

• Report by ITV Wales reporter Hamish Auskerry

A former A&E nurse has said the move to make nitrous oxide, also known as laughing gas, a criminal offence is "very important" after describing how it can have a "catastrophic" effect.

Neil Evans, a Clinical Skills and Assimilation tutor at the University of South Wales believes laughing gas is a "serious drug with serious consequences."

It comes after laughing gas officially became illegal on 8 November with repeat offenders facing up to two years in jail.

Mr Evans spent years working in A&E departments and says the "dissociative effect" that laughing gas causes can have serious, and even "catastrophic" consequences, for those who use the drug in an uncontrolled environment.

He said: "It can affect body systems, it gives them a psychoactive experience, gives them a high.

"When they're high, they're not always in full control of their actions so you imagine if someone is driving, their awareness and reaction times are going to be greatly affected, they may escape injury but it could be catastrophic for someone else and a vehicle or pedestrian, so there are side effects to it."

Despite the potential "catastrophic" effects of nitrous oxide, Mr Evans accepts that there are significant benefits to its use in the medical profession but only in a controlled environment.

He said: "I've used it in A&E over the years many a time for people in extreme pain for various illnesses and injuries and it's really really good. It does give them a sense of euphoria and disassociation so that's great because that's what you want when someone's in pain.

"However, if somebody's got the dissociative effect and they're out in public and it's not controlled, you don't know about the quality of the drug, you don't know about the side effects, if something goes wrong and they have a reaction there's no one to help them."

After an FOI request sent by ITV Wales in February, the Cardiff and Vale University Health Board revealed that since 2017, the health board had no admissions relating to the misuse of Nitrous Oxide.

Elwyn Thomas, from the Kaleidoscope Project, a drug abuse charity, says that by outlawing nitrous oxide, the UK Government would be exacerbating problematic drug use and "turning our children into criminals."

He said: "It's going to affect the group between 16 and 24 in terms of criminal record, push people further into criminal behaviour, prevent jobs in the long term and I think it would cause more problematic drug crime.

"Is making something a criminal offence the way forward? I think it's a sledgehammer to crack a nut really."

What is laughing gas?

Nitrous oxide is a colourless gas kept in metal canisters. It has several commercial uses, such as managing pain and anxiety during dental treatment, and as a propellant for whipped cream.

It also has psychoactive properties, meaning users get a "high" feeling for a short few seconds when it is inhaled.

When does the ban come into force?

It is already against the law to produce or supply laughing gas for recreational use, but the new law will make possessing it illegal from Wednesday, 8 November onwards.

The ban will put it into the same category as benzodiazepines, known as 'benzos', which include valium.

This means possession of nitrous oxide, where a person intends to wrongfully inhale it for a psychoactive effect, is now an offence.

Consequences could include an unlimited fine, community sentences or, for repeat serious offenders, a prison term.

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