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Nitrous Oxide

Operational, BEda comment, April 2007, COMMENTS

Good operators know that providing a quality experience in a safe, well run venue, will ensure that customers return regularly and will drive profitability. They know too that customers want decent entertainment and a good laugh when they go out after a hard week at work.

Unfortunately some individuals who offer goods and services to clubs are more concerned you have a laugh than others. I’m referring to those suppliers of Nitrous Oxide, which, over the last year or so has been rising once again in popularity in clubs and at festivals. Sometimes referred to as laughing gas, NO2 or hippy crack, from my own personal experience, I have been asked a few times recently at public events what the position of Nitrous Oxide was with regard to its legal status.

The confusion for many operators who have been approached by those intending supply comes over the legality of supplying for inhalation within the club. I have just obtained some very useful guidance from the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) which I think might be useful to disseminate.

To confuse matters slightly, Nitrous Oxide can also be used in producing whipping cream - but this is a less pure version of the substance - not the type of NO2 which is currently being offered. It is worth noting that the Nitrous Oxide offered is a pharmacy only medicine - meaning that it can only be dispensed by a pharmacist. As laughing gas however it is usually supplied in small cartridges (about 2-3 inches long) which are placed in a dispenser about the size of a kettle. The dispenser opens the cartridge so the gas can be released.

The MHRA guidance makes the legal position with regard to supplying clubbers within a venue clear:
“Once the gas is supplied in this way - i.e. for the purpose of inhalation - it is once again a pharmacy medicine and must only be so supplied by a pharmacist, irrespective of whether it has come from a cartridge originally supplied for catering purposes. Anyone who supplies NO2 for the purpose of inhalation without being a registered pharmacist is guilty of an offence under s.52 of the Medicines Act. If the supplier is working on their own account in, say, a nightclub (i.e. they are not employed by the nightclub) then the club owner is guilty of aiding and abetting an offence under s.52 of the Medicines Act.

It is not illegal to inhale NO2, nor to possess unless possession is with intent to supply. The health and safety risks associated with NO2 mean that allowing it to be supplied on the premises could place the duty-holder in breech of the general duty of care imposed under S.3 of the Health & Safety at Work Act. The rush from laughing gas is produced by oxygen starvation. NO2 drives oxygen out of the lungs and even after it is exhaled, continues to restrict oxygen supply. It can cause unconsciousness with the subsequent risk of falling. There are believed to be long term risks to the nervous system. All of these risks are likely to be exacerbated if the drug is combined with alcohol or other narcotics. The risks are particularly severe for pregnant women.”

The MHRA is very aware of this issue and have a team called the Enforcement Group which is a dedicated group of officers who operate under the powers of the Medicines Act 1968. This according to the MHRA guidance, includes power of entry and seizure. The group keeps a watching brief of the internet, to guide their investigators, if necessary to particular premises if they feel they may need to employ enforcement action. The Enforcement Group also maintains close contact with other UK regulatory bodies such as Trading Standards and the Health & Safety Executive.

Trading Standards officers in turn will contact premises to notify them of their legal position and inform them of the prospect of legal action if they allow the supply of Nitrous Oxide on the premises.
It is pretty clear that the MHRA will not find the supply of Nitrous Oxide (excuse the pun) remotely amusing so it is advisable to not let those individuals who approach you to sell NO2 access to either your premises and your customers.

Words: Paul Smith (Executive Director of BEDA)

From: April 2007 Issue

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