How Risky Is Nitrous Oxide Whippets? Sharp HealthCare

This is partly due to the drug’s wide availability; besides being used in products as common as whipped cream, you’ll often find them being sold in smoke and sex shops. It’s easy to buy nitrous oxide canisters over the counter, and the gas is found in everyday household items, like whipped cream cans and sprayable cooking oil; it’s even used to make nitro coffee. When used as an inhalant, effects can last up to a few minutes, depending on how much you inhale. Whippet cartridges can be bought on their own, not just in whipped cream cans. Some states have made it illegal to sell nitrous oxide canisters to people under the age of 21 in an effort to curb inhalant abuse.

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Although teens and young adults are the most likely individuals to develop a whippit addiction, adults who work around large quantities of nitrous oxide are also particularly vulnerable to it. Another major risk of abusing whippits is mistakenly inhaling poisonous gases. Some trick balloons are filled with toxic gases like butane or pentane. These kinds of solvents can cause a heart attack or death if they are inhaled. One person’s reaction to whippet abuse may be more or less severe than another person’s, which can be dangerous, especially if a person decides to abuse nitrous oxide for the first time while they are alone. Nitrous oxide—also known as laughing gas—is notoriously known as a party drug, and has been used recreationally for centuries, but it’s also safely used as a dental sedative, and in car engines and food preparation.

What Are Whippits?

1. When he stepped out, he grabbed a giant silk air-bag full of more nitrous and huffed that too, just for good measure.
2. They may cover their face and the canister with a bag or mask to inhale whippets.
3. Some people use whippets to enhance sexual pleasure, or even take a hit right before they orgasm to amplify it.
4. KB, a 17-year-old rapper from the southside of Atlanta, told me Galaxy Gas is everywhere, and that he’s personally done “probably over a million hits.” His favorite flavor is Blueberry Mango.

Nervous in front of a scrupulous crowd, Wells pulled away the nitrous balloon a little too quickly. During the operation, the patient appeared to groan in pain (though it was later deemed an involuntary and unconscious response). Onlookers nevertheless booed Wells out of the theater, and the embarrassment pushed him into a depression that culminated in suicide. It was during a show in 1844 that the American dentist Horace Wells witnessed a teenager on nitrous slam into a wooden bench.

Talk with your child’s doctor about concerns you may have about inhalant or other substance use. Using whippets can lead to oxygen deprivation, nerve damage, brain damage, and even death. It also increases the risk of accidents and psychological dependency. High doses of whippits can cause life-threatening effects, including seizure, coma and sudden sniffing death syndrome. The latter condition occurs when the heart stops beating during inhalant abuse. When referring to nitrous oxide chargers, whippits, whippets and whip-its mean the same thing.

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Although it hasn’t been made illegal by the federal government, several states have outlawed sales and recreational use of the substance. It’s a misdemeanor in California to use or possess nitrous oxide for the purpose of intoxication. It’s also illegal to sell the substance to anyone under the age of 18 in many states, like Arizona, California and Connecticut. In some states like Iowa it’s illegal for a person of any age to sell, use or possess nitrous oxide for the purpose of unlawfully inhaling the substance.

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According to Forcier, there isn’t much data on the effects of using whippets with other drugs, so the risks are unclear, though it is not recommended to use other depressants or stimulants at the same time. Forcier says using whippets with other substances like cannabis, ketamine, and other dissociative drugs may create a more intense out-of-body experience. Chargers can be opened and released into culinary whipped cream dispensers, balloons, bags, or various other implements. It’s important to note that forcing whippets balloons open canisters without an official rig can be very dangerous.

This produces a short high that is characterized by feelings of euphoria, weightlessness, excitement, and sometimes hallucinations. Addiction is a disease that causes people to abuse drugs despite knowing the negative consequences. While nitrous oxide is a highly popular inhalant, many people are unaware of the drug’s dangers.

Louisiana recently banned the recreational use and sale of nitrous oxide to people of any age in May, and the law went into effect on August 1. A 2021 New York state law banning the sale of “whipped cream chargers” to anyone under 21 led to confusion, causing some grocery stores to ask for identification before selling whipped cream to customers, AP News reported. While nitrous oxide is legal and readily available, its misuse is illegal in many places. The ease of access makes it a popular choice among teens and young adults, who may not fully understand the risks involved.

Don’t open whippet canisters around flammable substances, open flames, or cigarettes. So, when you inhale it directly from a canister, it can cause frostbite on your lips, nose, or throat. Nowadays, there are small versions of these canisters specifically made for people to use for getting high. These 2-inch canisters resemble flashlights and have pieces of foil over them.

What Are the Potential Psychological Consequences?

Meanwhile, innovations in the delivery mechanisms for laughing gas were starting to ramp up its use in dentistry. George Poe, cousin of the poet Edgar Allen Poe, figured out how to manufacture nitrous in liquid form. This allowed for packaging and distributing it in easy-to-use canisters.