Nitrous Oxide

Question

Asked by

To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the (1) extent, and (2) risks, of use of nitrous oxide gas by young people.

The use of nitrous oxide among those aged 16 to 24 in England and Wales decreased from an estimated 194,000 users in the year ending March 2024 to 80,000 users in the following year. That is the lowest since records began in 2013. The Government provide information to the public on the risks of using nitrous oxide, including on the drug information website Talk to FRANK. The risks of using nitrous oxide are severe.

I am grateful for the Minister’s reply. As he knows, it is illegal for anybody under 18 to purchase nitrous oxide, but there is a growing trend in our cities and towns where drug pushers buy dozens and dozens of cannisters of nitrous oxide and fill balloons with them to market and sell to young people. The cannisters are then dumped in parklands, grass spaces and back alleys, which is dangerous to the environment and particularly to young children. Do the Government have a strategy for dealing with this problem?

It is a very real problem. The noble Lord will know that the legislation to ensure that we put nitrous oxide on the controlled list, passed in 2023, has reduced the level of usage as a whole. I am also pleased to report that in the year September 2024 to September 2025, there were 242 convictions for the supply of nitrous oxide, with 234 sentences to date and some still outstanding for sentence. The Government’s strategy is to make sure we clamp down on this; it is not acceptable, and the legislation should be enforced. It is also very important that we have education for young people, particularly in schools.

My Lords, there are limited legitimate uses for nitrous oxide, yet the lawful supply of these cannisters has created an unlawful, harmful supply down stream. Will the Minister today commit to a review to establish the volume of nitrous oxide being sold and whether the benefits of the legitimate trade in fact outweigh the social cost of the unlawful trade that follows from it?

As the noble Lord has mentioned, there are a number of legitimate uses for nitrous oxide: medical, dental and veterinary uses, food sector uses in cafés and for amateur bakers, as a fuel additive for motor racing and for academic research. The legislation passed under his Government has tried to get the balance right between legitimate and illegitimate use. As I said a moment ago to the noble Lord, Lord Storey, the number of convictions for illegal use and supply has increased significantly. That is an area the police are focused on. We keep all matters under review, but the legislation was passed only some three years ago and I think it is right that we let it take its course.

My Lords, it is very welcome that the rates of illegal use have gone down and convictions have gone up. But, following on from the points made by the noble Lord, Lord Storey, does my noble friend the Minister agree that there can be a tension between young people seeking help or wanting to report a crime and a fear of prosecution when doing so? Can he ensure that there are ways to overcome that tension—perhaps through confidential helplines or specially designated teachers, police officers or social workers—ensuring that people can come forward for help or to report issues without fearing that they might be prosecuted?

It is a very real tension that my noble friend mentions. It is important, particularly in a school or youth club context, that young people who see the use of nitrous oxide have an opportunity to talk to a teacher, parent or youth worker, both to understand the consequences of that use and to find mechanisms to help other young people stop using that product. We keep strongly under review a whole range of mechanisms. Both the Department for Education in England and the Department of Health look at information and support to young people to help meet the very objective that my noble friend has mentioned.

My Lords, as the use of nitrous oxide involves the substance hitting the opioid receptors, as with heroin and other drugs, will the Government undertake education of young people in schools, for whom the addictive potential of all these substances is much higher than in the older population? Sometimes substances such as nitrous oxide are used by dealers as an inroad to begin to create an addiction and then to get people on to much more harmful substances after that.

The noble Baroness strikes at the heart of this. The use of nitrous oxide is currently illegal under legislation passed by the previous Government. There have been convictions, but there needs to be both education and support to young people—particularly about the dangers, because nitrous oxide can lead to death at first use. It is also important that its addictive nature is put into education, lesson plans and other supportive material for parents, as well as for young people. It is something that we will certainly keep under review to meet the objectives that the noble Baroness has mentioned.

My Lords, the White Paper on policing recognises the need for a strong national forensic service, but the issue will be how it keeps up with the huge number of drugs that are appearing on our streets—almost, it seems, on a daily basis. What steps are the Government taking to ensure that the service has the staff, the technology and, crucially, the speed of testing required to support effective enforcement and to keep people safe?

The noble Baroness mentions the forensic service. It is really important that we keep that up to date. As she mentioned, under the policing White Paper we are having a review of how that is undertaken. It is extremely important, not just in this context but in the context of much more illegal drugs. Going back to the question from the noble Lord on the Front Bench, there are legal uses for nitrous oxide. The legislation is framed in such a way that those legal uses can be undertaken, but, at the same time, supply for improper use is controlled by legislation. The noble Baroness’s points about how we test and monitor that are extremely important.