The profile of the drug user is changing. It corresponds to that of a young person, integrated into their social environment, who does not suffer visible short-term medical consequences, but who is exposed to another series of problems related to the consumption of narcotic substances. Among them, school failure, violent acts, difficulties with job placement, socialization and problems in the family environment, according to a report by the Foundation for Help Against Drug Addiction (FAD).
Another aspect that has influenced this mutation from the junkie isolated from society to the apparently healthy and integrated young man is the appearance of a series of cheap and easily acquired substances on the Internet, pharmacies and even in supermarkets with which they obtain the desired effects of a drug. high, at a very reduced price.
Among them are GHD (liquid ecstasy), chlorethyl (a local anesthetic that can be purchased for just 10 euros in pharmacies and without a prescription) and nitrous oxide, available in supermarkets. This last substance has caused an alert to be activated in the Region among anti-drug police units and in the health field due to the increase in the consumption of nitrous oxide or misnamed 'laughing gas', especially among young people.
“We located a person in Molina who needed medical assistance and, in the area, there were balloons lying on the ground and cans that were used as deposits of the compound”
Nitrous oxide is a legal product in Spain, since the capsules and drums in which it is sold are used in baking, and also as an anesthetic in dentistry. The problem arises when it is acquired for recreational use to produce quick, but ephemeral, feelings of euphoria, relaxation, calm and a feeling of indifference. In countries like the United Kingdom, its sale is not allowed, because about seven years ago an enormous increase in its consumption was detected, when it was made available in stores, something that caused addictions and even deaths.
From the National Police, they warn that, although it may have a hilarious effect, “it should not be taken as a laugh” and one of the main problems that experts in the fight against drug trafficking point out is that accessing this substance is really easy for consumers, since it can be purchased for a very low price online and in supermarkets.
To consume it, small metal gas cartridges (also called 'crackers') are used to make whipped cream. With them, balloons are inflated with which the gas is inhaled. The containers are purchased in traditional stores, but larger gas cylinders are also sold, aimed specifically at the recreational market.
Alerts have been raised among police forces due to the successive seizures that have occurred in recent months. The last seizure of 'laughing gas' was made by the Local Police of Caravaca de la Cruz, last Saturday, April 13. The agents arrested a man who was seized with different quantities of drugs such as ecstasy pills, pink cocaine, Mdma, ketamine. In addition, a nitrous oxide cylinder was also located in his vehicle. Everything ready for sale.
For its part, the National Police made the largest seizure of this drug to date in the Region earlier this month. The agents confiscated seven gas cylinders, weighing two kilos each, in a joint that was a drug sales point in Molina de Segura, where there were also different quantities of marijuana, hashish, and cocaine.
From the Corps, they warn that it is a drug that is creating problems due to the increase in its consumption in areas where young people usually gather.
A mixture of substances with unpredictable effects
In Molina de Segura, for example, Citizen Security units have observed the presence of balloons in places where bottles are usually made, such as in the Compañía park. «Recently, we located a person who needed medical assistance because he was in a very euphoric state and had to be assisted by the ambulance. In the vicinity, we see black balloons lying around and canisters that are used as gas storage. In addition, there were remains of drug papers lying on the floor. According to the information that the witnesses provided to the agents, there is a trend of introducing the papelina drug into a balloon and then inflating it with nitrous oxide to inhale the mixture, the effects of which are unpredictable and unknown,” warns a sub-inspector of the Judicial Police of the National Police of Molina de Segura.
Although nitrous oxide is not classified as a drug, the Police confiscate it when they suspect that its use is other than legal, for the production of food products or for some type of medical treatment.
«The mere possession of the substance does not carry any sanction, if it is not regulated by regional regulations and, in the Region, there is no regulation that establishes that nitrous oxide is a drug, as the Balearic Islands and Asturias do contemplate. As for trafficking, when it is sold for an amount of money, proceedings are opened for a crime against public health. Another thing is that it will later end in a conviction,” explains the Molina sub-inspector.
The health alert
The European Drug Monitoring Center (Emcdda) does not have studies on the consumption of nitrous oxide, but makes an estimate based on police seizures of tanks containing the gas.
The conclusion is that its consumption is growing, also in the Region, “at adult parties and among young people, in parks, music festivals and concerts,” indicates the Emcdda study. “They look for the dissociative effects that the gas has, which causes a session of greater richness in the perception of the environment, some type of very mild hallucination can even occur,” says Isabel Peñalver Garcerán, psychiatrist at the hospital's inpatient detoxification unit. Queen Sofia of Murcia. The expert points out that it can also cause spatial disorientation, cause uncontrolled laughter and, depending on the dose, the sensation of pain is also reduced. “It is a drug that modifies perception, it is activated by inhalation and its effect occurs in seconds, it quickly reaches the neurons because it is very permeable in human tissues.”
The average effect lasts between 15 and 45 minutes, Peñalver details, but, in general, it causes a very brief high. The specialist states that one of the main problems is that those who consume it have a very low perception of risk, something “very far from reality.”
Choking Hazard
One of the main risks associated with its consumption is that, when the gas is introduced into the balloon, the composition has to be one third nitrous oxide and two thirds oxygen. Because?
“Because when inhaled, nitrous oxide displaces oxygen in the lung alveoli and can cause hypoxia, the suffocation of the tissues, so if too much nitrous oxide has been introduced, there is a risk of death.” But there are more harmful effects, such as burns in the mouth, “in the case of inhaling the gas directly from the container where it is kept at a very low temperature. And, depending on the dose consumed, overdose, nausea, vomiting, seizures, cognitive and perceptual alterations can occur, which leads to falls and traffic accidents,” the expert emphasizes.
A striking aspect in the person who regularly consumes it is that there is an effect similar to that of alcohol, since it causes the nervous system to lose vitamin B12 and, as a consequence, problems derived from this deficiency.
“This is something that usually happens in alcoholics when vitamin B12 decreases, which is associated with neurological and cognitive problems with memory,” Peñalver explains. In the Reina Sofía hospital detoxification unit, cases of addiction to 'laughing gas' as the main drug have not been treated for now, but patients who have consumed it in the context of 'chemsex', multi-drug use, have attended. for sexual purposes, which results in long sex sessions – they can last for hours or even days.
#39Laughing #gas39 #drug #funny #truth
