A 25-year-old girl was left paralyzed and had to spend six weeks in a hospital after inhaling too much laughing gas.
Mollie, who lives in Wales, UK, says doctors found inflammation in her spinal cord and brain damage in March from the drug, which is also known as nitrous oxide.
It is a gas that is sold in capsules of metal and that it has become one of the drugs most used by young people between the ages of 16 and 24 in the United Kingdom and other European countries.
In January this year, the Netherlands became the first country in the world to outlaw its use.
Two months later, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced its ban in the UK.
Mollie, who did not want to share her last name, thinks making the drug illegal is a good idea.
numbness and tingling
She says that she felt alone and isolated during the covid-19 pandemic and, to deal with her deteriorating mental health, she began using laughing gas.
“I would buy ten boxes a week, and each box contained 24 capsules,” he explains.
“I started feeling numbness and tingling in my hands and feet. Part of me didn’t want to admit it was related to laughing gas.”
After a couple of months, Mollie was going to work when she realized she couldn’t walk.
What are the risks of nitrous oxide?
- Nitrous oxide slows down the responses of your body and your brain.
- Too much can cause you to pass out, lose consciousness, or suffocate.
- Heavy and chronic use can also cause nerve damage.
- Inhaling it directly from the cylinder is particularly dangerous. The gas is ice cold and at high pressure, which can damage the throat and lungs, stop breathing, or slow the heart rate.
- It can also cause a brief but intense feeling of paranoia.
At the hospital, doctors discovered that Mollie had inflammation in her spinal cord and “large damages in the nervesby “depriving” your brain of oxygen.
“One of the doctors who said, ‘do you take laughing gas?’ And I replied: “frequently”.
“I used to run and dance, but I can’t anymore”
Doctors told Mollie’s parents she would never walk again, leaving her “petrified”.
The drug can damage the nervous system by interfering with the metabolism of vitamin B12. This damages a protective layer of nerves, usually those at the back of the spine.
Mollie spent six weeks in rehab and has now recovered, but still feel tingles in the hands and feet.
“I used to do a lot of running and dancing, but I can’t do those things anymore,” she said.
The experience inspired her to train to become a nurse.
“When I was in the hospital, I spoke to someone who told me that I had a great calling for (nursing),” she says.
“That was probably the best thing I got out of all of this.”
Speaking to the BBC, Martin Blakeborough, chief executive of the anti-drug and alcohol charity Kaleidoscope, said that the ban will not prevent that people consume the substance and that investment in youth services is needed.
“If we want to deal with antisocial behavior in young people, first you have to give them something to do, give them a safe place to go, and that will really take them away from the danger of drugs.”
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