FDA Issues Warning About Galaxy Gas and Other ‘Laughing Gas’ Products
A class action lawsuit has been filed in Florida, accusing manufacturers and smoke shops of exploiting a legal loophole that allows them to sell nitrous oxide canisters if they are marketed as a culinary tool rather than an inhalant.
In late 2024, I wrote that one legacy of the Biden-Harris administration was the expansion of illegal drug selection to include particularly nasty substances intended for America’s youth.
The specific example I cited was the emerging “laughing gas” market.
The colorless gas can be found in cans of whipped cream and other common household items. Nitrous oxide is also sold in cartridges or canisters over the counter, and can be found frequently in vape shops. One brand that is particularly referenced in videos by nitrous oxide users is “Galaxy Gas.”
Though the material is technically legal to buy, recreational use of nitrous oxide is not legal. And its sale to minors is completely illegal.
The 2021 Global Drug Survey also lists it as the 13th most popular recreational drug in the world. The desire of young Americans to escape realities in today’s economic environment, paired with their hopes of being social media stars, has led to making the recreational inhalation of nitrous oxide becoming even more prevalent.
Now the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a warning against the recreational use and inhalation of nitrous oxide products, commonly known as “laughing gas.” This warning came in response to an increase in reports of adverse events related to the misuse of these products.
The Food and Drug Administration issued a warning on Friday that advised consumers against inhaling nitrous oxide products such as Galaxy Gas, Baking Bad, Whip-it! and Miami Magic.
Recreational use of nitrous oxide as a party drug has long been prevalent, but whipped cream charger products such as Galaxy Gas have recently found a young and enthusiastic user base. Experimentation with an intentional misuse of the product has developed into a popular subgenre on social media, with widely shared videos of teenagers inhaling the gas from tubelike canisters of flavors like strawberry cream, tropical punch and vanilla cupcake. The videos have collected millions of views on TikTok, X and YouTube, despite attempts to limit searches for the product.
The name Galaxy Gas has caught on as a generic shorthand for these products, which the F.D.A.’s warning also says includes MassGass, Cosmic Gas, Hotwhip and InfusionMax. A wave of public concern has risen about the health dangers of these products, which are often sold in loud and colorful packaging that their critics say is appealing to teenagers and children. The F.D.A.’s advisory said the products could be purchased “at retailers, including, but not limited to: Amazon.com, eBay, Walmart, and at smoke/vape shops and gas stations.”
The FDA said it has seen an increase in cases of people consuming nitrous oxide, which can lead to several health problems…all of which I noted in my original report. The agency also indicated teens were most at risk for becoming addicted to this substance.
Abnormal blood counts, loss of consciousness, paralysis and psychiatric disturbances including delusions, hallucinations and paranoia are among the more serious ailments described by the FDA.
Regular users may experience “prolonged neurological effects, including spinal cord or brain damage,” the FDA said.
….”Teens are especially vulnerable to these dangers, as their brains are still developing, making them more susceptible to the harmful effects of nitrous oxide,” the Addicton Center said on its website. “Moreover, the ease of access to whipped cream canisters at home or in stores contributes to the rising trend, increasing the potential for abuse.”
I would like to note that last month, a class action lawsuit was initiated against Galaxy Gas and several smoke shops that sell these products. The lawsuit was filed by the family of Margaret Caldwell, a 29-year-old woman from Florida who died after struggling with a prolonged addiction to nitrous oxide.
Filed Thursday in state court in Orange County, Florida, by the family of a woman who died after what relatives said was a yearslong addiction to the gas canisters, the lawsuit accuses manufacturers and smoke shops of exploiting a legal loophole that allows them to sell nitrous oxide canisters if they are marketed as a culinary tool rather than an inhalant. The gas is most commonly used to make whipped cream.
Nonetheless, the products are sold in large packages labeled and decorated “so as to encourage their use through inhalation, and distributed through smoke shops, to further facilitate their use as recreational drugs, rather than cooking utensils,” reads the lawsuit. “This presents a mortal danger to consumers’ health.”
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Comments
Given the inability of teens to discern right from wrong, and dangerous from safe, it is a wonder we have survived this long as a species.
Almost makes you think they shouldn’t be able to decide to undergo life altering gender mutilation surgery.
That’s different!(tm)
This is just more anti drug hysteria.
As an anesthesiologist of 30 years, I can assure you the Nitrous Oxide is one of the safer drugs.
It has even recently been used in offices in a fixed ratio of 50% nitrous/50% oxygen for sedation without the need for monitoring.
The problem with these products is the lack of oxygen in the container.
Inhaling a hypoxic mixture of any gas could be fatal.
Certainly long term abuse of laughing gas can cause anemia and nerve damage.
However nitrous is far less toxic than most other drugs of abuse.
Especially fentanyl
You: Bachelors degree in some STEM major, likely top of class. Four years of medical school, many more years of residency, etc. Likely could get a Ph.D. in chemistry in your spare time with half your brain tied behind your back.
Teenaged stoner: brain not fully developed, high school dropout, sociopathic behavior, can’t spell H20.
Y’all are not the same.
you said:
Certainly long term abuse of laughing gas can cause anemia and nerve damage.
However nitrous is far less toxic than most other drugs of abuse.
Especially fentanyl
///////
and people are different and are affected at sometimes slower..sometimes faster rates
and while cigarettes *might* be less dangerous than pot
its still unwise to label this as “more anti drug HYSTERIA
Buying balloons filled with nitrous oxide was a thing at Grateful Dead concerts.
*raises hand*
Seriously, nitrous was the mildest drug we did in college in the 1980s. Just don’t put a mask on. An ordinary balloon filled with a whippet is enough.
Speak for yourself…
WWJD?
(What would Jerry do?)
I tried Whip-It! once with classmates in college in the late 70s. The effects were nearly instantaneous and consisted of a lack of control (physical and otherwise) a the sensation of having a concrete bunker filled with thousands of bouncing ping pong balls inside your head. Everyone who did it immediately landed on the floor. Once was enough, LSD was far and away a safer and more pleasurable experience because you didn’t completely lose control and, if distracted by or involved in thought, conversation, or any other physical or mental challenge you might forget you were on a “trip”. I am not promoting LSD use, merely pointing out the difference between two drugs.
I think lower IQ individuals or those who are less creative (artistically, scientifically, intellectually) are attracted to drugs that make you profoundly moronic and zombie like. Trying them once is one thing (and knowing what I know know I wouldn’t relinquish physical and mental control recreationally for a moment) and trying it a second time or getting addicted to it is something completely different and sadly disturbing.
A very sweet neighborhood boy, age 14 does of laughing gas when I was young
They opened up the tank under a parachute and all the boys died of asphyxiation. I think it was 4
Just insane, so totally needless
Amyl Nitrate was sold back in the 80’s as an inhalant. It was huffing paint without the paint. They called them poppers. Whippets is the Nitrous Oxide version.
Pretty mild compared to what we could have been ingesting.
Amyl is an NO3 vasodilator (as rapidly converted to NO in the body). Nitrous Oxide N2O is an agonist at the mu opioid receptor. Our local fentanyl addicts steal whipped cram containers them from grocery stores to buy themselves another 15 minutes before withdrawls kick in. There is no room in the drug culture for amateurs.
I have heard that a whippet going up the first hill of a serious roller coaster is fun.