13 Comments
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Sara's avatar

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.

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Sol's avatar

> ‘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.

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PC's avatar

Balloon in one hand, phone in the other.

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Patrick's avatar

“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…

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JPodmore's avatar

Sometimes you see whole bunches of balloons chasing young men down the street

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Joey den Broeder's avatar

Nitrous oxide systems: Cool

Nitrous oxide balloons: Cringe

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John Clement's avatar

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.

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Cevin's avatar

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.

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Mr Christopher J Conder's avatar

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.

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Kate's avatar

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.

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Monsterah's avatar

At least the kids aren't driving cars when they're in the park

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CM's avatar

NOS is Halal bro 😇

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Holly's avatar

Yes and so is arsenic

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