Nitrous Oxide | What Kind of Drug Is It?
Important!
What Kind of Drug Is It?
Nitrous oxide is a type of anesthetic, a substance used to deaden pain. It can alleviate pain without causing a loss of consciousness. Best known by the nickname "laughing gas," nitrous oxide is used primarily by dentists to keep patients comfortable during painful procedures. It can also be used in combination with other drugs as a general anestheticAnesthetics that cause a loss of sensation in the entire body, rather than just a specific body part, and bring on a loss of consciousness.. When administered by trained medical professionals, the gas is considered a safe and effective form of anesthesia.
As a recreational drug—a drug used solely to get high, not to treat a medical condition—nitrous oxide is classified as an inhalant. (An entry on inhalants is available in this encyclopedia.) Inhalants contain dangerous vapors, which are gases or fumes that can be irritating or physically harmful when breathed in. Vapors from inhalants produce psychoactive, or mind-altering, effects when breathed in through the mouth or nose.
More than 1,000 different household and industrial products—all readily accessible to consumers of any age—are sniffed or huffedInhaling through the mouth, often from an inhalant-soaked cloth. for their intoxicating effects. Glues, paints, markers, nail polish, correction fluid, and shoe polish are among the most commonly abused inhalants.
Among young teens, nitrous oxide is typically obtained from canned whipped cream available at grocery stores. Nitrous oxide gas is used to propel, or to drive out, the whipped cream from the can. Sales of nitrous oxide to older teens and adults usually occur at dance clubs and all-night dance parties called ravesOvernight dance parties that typically involve huge crowds of people, loud techno music, and illegal drug use. or through Internet transactions.