We can predict with some precision what will happen when the government criminalises the possession of nitrous oxide. Hundreds of thousands of young people will still inhale this laughing gas from balloons. Criminal gangs will take charge of meeting the demand, handing them a new and lucrative revenue stream. Our ability to regulate the substance will cease, posing greater risks.
Those who need medical care will be deterred from seeking it, fearing being pursued by the police. A minority of users will be arbitrarily criminalised – in the words of the Law Enforcement Action Partnership, which represents former police officers, for “possessing substances which have a lower harm rate than ‘legal’ highs such as alcohol”. Because of an institutionally racist criminal justice system, those targeted will be disproportionately Black, their future job prospects damaged for enjoying a quick high from a balloon.
