Nitrous Oxide to be banned

The Government have confirmed as part of the anti-social reduction strategy further restrictions in relation to nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas.

The headline is that possession will be a criminal offence which is driven by the fact that Nitrous oxide, sold in metal canisters is reported as one of the most-used drugs by UK 16 to 24-year-olds. The small silver canisters are often found in parks, car parks and town centres where young people have gathered and frequent use is believed to have a negative impact on health and cause social harms.

However, such tight regulation goes against recommendations from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) which recently advised against new laws to ban nitrous oxide.

Nitrous oxide is already regulated by the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 (it makes production, supply and importation of nitrous oxide for human consumption illegal)but the additional regulation is expected to be contained within the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.

Many hospitality venues buy and store nitrous oxide canisters for food production and this is the reason they were developed. We will only know how the new legislation will impact hospitality once we see the detail of the legislation. We will continue to update as matters develop.