Germany has already banned it, in Poland you can buy it in 5 minutes. This is how young people get high now

• Nitrous oxide, a popular party drug, carries high health risks
• It can cause nerve damage, psychosis, and even death.
• Planned legislation in Germany is to ban the sale of laughing gas to minors, as well as its sale by mail order and in vending machines.

As reported by Deutsche Welle, German Health Minister Nina Warken of the CDU, who recently took over the position, announced that one of her first decisions will be to introduce a ban on the use of laughing gas at parties as an intoxicating substance .

She stressed that laughing gas is not harmless fun, but is associated with high health risks, especially in children and adolescents.

• Negative effects of its use may include:
• wounds similar to frostbite,
• fainting,
• permanent nerve damage,
• psychosis.

Laughing gas, or nitrous oxide (N2O), has become increasingly popular in Germany as a party drug for several years . Consumers usually inhale the substance using balloons.

The Federal Institute for Risk Assessment has issued an urgent warning against the consumption of nitrous oxide , calling it a risky party drug that can lead to serious health damage and, in extreme cases, be fatal .

In medicine, laughing gas is used as a mild anesthetic and relaxing agent.

The previous ruling coalition in Germany also planned to ban the drug at events, but these plans were not implemented due to the collapse of the government.

According to Nina Warken, nitrous oxide will not be allowed to be sold to minors in the future. There will also be a general ban on selling it by mail order or in vending machines.

A ban on the sale of nitrous oxide to children and adolescents is already in force in several cities and federal states.

Hamburg was the first state to introduce such a ban in January 2025. Last week, the city council in Frankfurt am Main passed a similar ban. Hanau, Dortmund and Osnabrück have also introduced such regulations.

The German Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction announced in December that the abuse of laughing gas is a continuing trend.

In 2023, the police recorded eleven deaths related to nitrous oxide . The CDU, CSU and SPD agreed in their coalition agreement to take appropriate preventive measures, "in particular to protect children and young people from everyday addictions".

The head of the Ministry of Health also wants to use the law to ban the trade and distribution of so-called date rape drugs and make their administration a punishable act.

"We will not allow the continued use of industrial chemicals as a means of date rape," she said.

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