[UK] Nitrous oxide to become class C drug with users facing two year prison time

[Chip (OP)]

source: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/nitrous-oxide-laughing-gas-class-c-drug-ban-prison-sentences-b1104989.html

Nitrous oxide to become class C drug with users facing two year prison sentences

7th September 2023

User of laughing gas^Wiki will face up to two years in prison or an unlimited fine, while dealers could receive 14 years sentences



Five skips of NOS canisters were collected after Notting Hill Carnival this year

Nitrous oxide will become a class C drug and outlawed by the end of the year, the government announced on Tuesday.

Users of the substance, also known as laughing gas, face up to two years in prison or an unlimited fine, while dealers could receive 14 years sentences.

NOS, which is often inhaled from balloons, is the third most commonly used drug among 16 to 24-year-olds in England.

Following Notting Hill carnival last month, Kensington and Chelsea council said it collected five skips of empty NOS canisters from its streets.

The canisters must be collected separately to other waste as there is a risk they could explode if compacted.