Plus: Did Reform nominate a dead woman for mayor, which big TV series is pretending to be called "Dark Train", and will the Central Line ever get the upgrades it deserves?
Excellent reporting as ever. I suspect that the most effective deterrent will be to keep emphasising that they cause incontinence. Nothing like knowing it will lead to you pissing and shitting yourself to deglamourise something.
A lot of households in this borough are technically deprived -- living in subsidised council homes, claiming universal credit and qualifying for free lunches, etc. -- yet they are swimming in cash. (Trust me, through various sports clubs I'm part of I know a lot of people who grew up in TH and still live there.)
Good to see more coverage of the gas and cars issue. It's been a big thing this summer in Tower Hamlets. We hear engines roaring along residential roads most nights of the week - the speeds they do are insane.
'If you haven’t tried nitrous oxide yourself' is a strange opening line, though?
I don't even think they go that fast. They are just forcing the engine because they love the noise.
It has been an incredibly annoying months during the summer. Hell, even now there are some guys (kids probably) racing around, which has been great for my Teams meetings.
A few months back I was crossing a street and had to pretty much jump out of the way of a car driving erratically, I looked back and thd driver had a balloon in his mouth (which I assume was nitrous oxide related). I noted his number plate and reported it to the police but never heard anything.
> ‘its short-lived effect, and lack of smell, causing young people to use it frequently and unthinkingly including while driving’
This quote I think undersells the strength of laughing gas.
The effect of inhaling a balloon is that for you feel incredibly drunk/out-of-it and europhic. (Like a heavy night’s worth of alcohol, but lasts only 30 seconds)
No one who takes is doing it “unthinkingly”. They are doing it BECAUSE it’s dangerous.
Gosh. Something else to worry about when walking the streets. I wonder too if there can be curbs on the luxury short term car rental market- it’s not just an east london problem.
“A medical expert described broader use of the drug in the borough as an “epidemic” and said it disproportionately affected the area’s south Asian population”
I suppose saying it *affects* the area’s south Asian population is one way you could put it…
The reason it's popular isn't because of the area's deprivation lol. It's because young people have always wanted to use psychoactive substances but drinking is haram, so in Tower Hamlets they opt for shisha, weed and now nitrous oxide.
I cycle around the borough and always have to be extra vigilant. Once I was coming off Whitechapel road to go north towards Bethnal Green and a car next to be was swerving erratically. At the next red light I glanced through the window and saw the driver -- who looked to be a Bengali guy in his 20s -- had a nitrous oxide canister between his legs.
“Drug driving, we’re not in that place where it’s seen as socially unacceptable. How do we change that perspective?” - how about you start by enforcing the law?
You really do have to be a special kind of loser to have such little regard for the lives of everyone on the road around you.
Excellent reporting as ever. I suspect that the most effective deterrent will be to keep emphasising that they cause incontinence. Nothing like knowing it will lead to you pissing and shitting yourself to deglamourise something.
‘He attributes this to his area’s high deprivation, prevalence of mental health issues, drug supply, and gang culture.’
High deprivation doesn’t seem to go with renting Bentleys.
A lot of households in this borough are technically deprived -- living in subsidised council homes, claiming universal credit and qualifying for free lunches, etc. -- yet they are swimming in cash. (Trust me, through various sports clubs I'm part of I know a lot of people who grew up in TH and still live there.)
Good to see more coverage of the gas and cars issue. It's been a big thing this summer in Tower Hamlets. We hear engines roaring along residential roads most nights of the week - the speeds they do are insane.
'If you haven’t tried nitrous oxide yourself' is a strange opening line, though?
I don't even think they go that fast. They are just forcing the engine because they love the noise.
It has been an incredibly annoying months during the summer. Hell, even now there are some guys (kids probably) racing around, which has been great for my Teams meetings.
A few months back I was crossing a street and had to pretty much jump out of the way of a car driving erratically, I looked back and thd driver had a balloon in his mouth (which I assume was nitrous oxide related). I noted his number plate and reported it to the police but never heard anything.
> ‘its short-lived effect, and lack of smell, causing young people to use it frequently and unthinkingly including while driving’
This quote I think undersells the strength of laughing gas.
The effect of inhaling a balloon is that for you feel incredibly drunk/out-of-it and europhic. (Like a heavy night’s worth of alcohol, but lasts only 30 seconds)
No one who takes is doing it “unthinkingly”. They are doing it BECAUSE it’s dangerous.
Gosh. Something else to worry about when walking the streets. I wonder too if there can be curbs on the luxury short term car rental market- it’s not just an east london problem.
Balloon in one hand, phone in the other.
“A medical expert described broader use of the drug in the borough as an “epidemic” and said it disproportionately affected the area’s south Asian population”
I suppose saying it *affects* the area’s south Asian population is one way you could put it…
Sometimes you see whole bunches of balloons chasing young men down the street
Plenty of canisters seen on pavements and in parks in Upminster, an area that is about as white as it gets in London. Not a deprived area either.
At least the kids aren't driving cars when they're in the park
NOS is Halal bro 😇
Yes and so is arsenic
The reason it's popular isn't because of the area's deprivation lol. It's because young people have always wanted to use psychoactive substances but drinking is haram, so in Tower Hamlets they opt for shisha, weed and now nitrous oxide.
I cycle around the borough and always have to be extra vigilant. Once I was coming off Whitechapel road to go north towards Bethnal Green and a car next to be was swerving erratically. At the next red light I glanced through the window and saw the driver -- who looked to be a Bengali guy in his 20s -- had a nitrous oxide canister between his legs.
I have noticed the uh traditional small canisters are far less common now than a year or two ago, replaced by those large canisters.
“Drug driving, we’re not in that place where it’s seen as socially unacceptable. How do we change that perspective?” - how about you start by enforcing the law?
Nitrous oxide systems: Cool
Nitrous oxide balloons: Cringe