Not Your Grandmother’s Nitrous

Somewhere in the country, a drag racer hits a little button and his car doubles its horsepower. Somewhere else, a dentist turns a valve and numbs his patient. In another location, a chef depresses a lever to dispense some whipped crème. In yet another location, a kid with some balloons is getting high. What do all of these people have in common? They are all using a gas known as nitrous oxide. Known to chemists as N20, nitrous oxide is an odorless, colorless gas that is used for a variety of purposes. Nitrous is made up of two parts nitrogen to one part oxygen. By itself, neither element is very amazing. We need oxygen to breathe, but we can’t survive on oxygen alone. Nitrogen is totally inert, and won’t react with anything, although it will combine with many other elements. It is so stable that some military aircraft actually pump it into their fuel tanks as they empty to force out explosive fuel vapors. A common misconception about both oxygen and nitrous is that they are explosive. Neither element is explosive, although they both facilitate burning. That’s right folks, Nitrous Oxide will not explode. This belief comes from the fact that it is an oxidizer, and helps things to burn faster. This is why it is used in motor sports, the added oxygen from the nitrous allows more fuel to be burnt, and thus more power to be produced. This concept was first used in piston engine military aircraft in World War II. Nitrous has also been used as a propellant in some aerosols, such as certain whipped crème dispensers. It is also used as a mild anesthesia in the medical field, which has led to another use. Nitrous is used by some to get a high similar to the one that oxygen provides. This action is illegal in many states, including NH, which prohibits the inhalation of any substance to become intoxicated, excluding use in the medical field of anesthesia. For more information see Title LXII Criminal Code, Chapter 644, section 644:5-a. Nitrous has a few different effects on the body that are being sought when it is used to get high. It induces both auditory and visual hallucinations, which ‘pulsate’. There is a feeling of disorientation, vision becomes fixated, and there is an increased pain threshold. Perhaps the most interesting effect is that many claim to have a ‘deeper mental connection’ while under the influence of nitrous. Some users claim that the connections made in the mind while under the influence of nitrous are of the deepest meaning, but will of course make no sense to the sober person. Nitrous could also cause paranoia, with usually is accompanied by disorientation. Déjà vu may also be experienced. Nitrous is not all fun and games, however. There are definite dangers to the use of nitrous. First word of advice, do not ever cross use nitrous, i.e., do not use automotive nitrous as an inhalant. There are additives in automotive nitrous to prevent its recreational use. A word to “tuners” as well, it is not recommend by companies that sell nitrous kits that you refill your tanks with medical grade nitrous. Frequent use of nitrous could also result in vitamin deficiencies; there have been people hospitalized for this. Dangers can also arise from the method of inhalation. Many people have gotten frost burn from trying to inhale nitrous directly from the small canisters used to charge whipped crème dispensers. What many people don’t know is that a Nitrous Oxide high only lasts for about 30 seconds. Some users complain of feeling depressed for hours or even days after use. Because nitrous is fairly new to the drug market, little research has been done by professionals. There is most likely a connection between brain damage and excessive use. It is also probable that excessive use could cause problems thus far unseen.