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Nitrous oxide: Laughing gas to be illegal by end of year (www.bbc.co.uk)

submitted 1 year ago by merridew@feddit.uk to c/unitedkingdom@feddit.uk

99 comments fedilink hide all child comments

There will be exemptions for legitimate uses of nitrous oxide, for example in medical or catering industries. The gas is commonly used as a painkiller and for producing whipped cream in cooking.

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[–] TWeaK@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

But there are tons of costs with criminalisation, too. The cost of police time, the cost of court time, the cost of prison, the loss of production from otherwise good citizens being made into criminals. Which is the better use of public resources? Which would be more effective at actually preventing cannisters from being left around everywhere?

Edit: If anything, making it illegal could lead to more litter. People aren't going to hang on to their empties if they could be used as evidence of a crime.

[–] RaivoKulli@sopuli.xyz 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It seems strange to me to even consider the two as ways of combating litter

[–] TWeaK@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Well, cannisters are the only real problem here. All the expert advise said the drug was a non-issue, however there are certainly a lot of cannisters being left all over the place, creating a visible problem. Criminalising it probably won't do anything about the visible problem, it will just incur costs and make otherwise law abiding citizens into criminals.

[–] RaivoKulli@sopuli.xyz 1 points 1 year ago

I was just saying that the deposit systems aren't as simple as one might initially think.

I've done laughing gas and while it was fun I don't really care whether it's legal or not. It seems like a very minor thing.

[–] midgephoto@photog.social 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

@TWeaK @RaivoKulli B12 consumption causing spinal cord degeneration is an issue.
Also N2O is a greenhouse gas, and supports combustion more effectively than pure oxygen, not very bad in small quantities and controlle,d spaces.

[–] TWeaK@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago

Yes, there are problems with long term or excessive use, I shouldn't have said it was a non-issue.