Overview:
Nitrous oxide, commonly known as happy gas or laughing gas, is a chemical compound with the chemical formula N2O. At room temperature, it is a colorless non-flammable gas, with a pleasant, slightly sweet odor and taste. It is used in surgery and dentistry for its anesthetic and analgesic effects. It is known as "laughing gas" due to the euphoric effects of inhaling it, a property that has led to its recreational use.
Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a dissociative drug that can cause analgesia, depersonalization, derealization, dizziness, euphoria, and some sound distortion.
Only a small number of recreational users (such as dental office workers or medical gas technicians) have legal access to pure nitrous oxide canisters that are intended for medical or dental use. Most recreational users obtain nitrous oxide from compressed gas containers which use nitrous oxide as a propellant for whipped cream or from automotive nitrous systems.
Users typically inflate a balloon or a plastic bag with nitrous oxide from a tank or a one-use 'charger', and then inhale the gas for its effects. Highly compressed liquid expelled from a tank or canister is extremely cold, and should not be inhaled directly, thus for medical and recreational use it is decompressed into something else, such as a balloon, first. Mis-cracked canisters can cause skin damage due to freezing temperatures. Users also inhale nitrous oxide directly from pre-packaged whipped cream canisters, where it is used as propellant.
Side Effects and Adverse Reactions:
Recreational users typically do not mix it with air or oxygen and thus may risk injury or death from anoxia if they tie plastic bags around their heads or otherwise obstruct their breathing.
Nitrous oxide can be habit-forming because of its short-lived effect (generally from 0.1 – 1 minutes in recreational doses). Long-term use in excessive quantities has been associated with vitamin B12 deficiency anemia due to reduced hemopoiesis, neuropathy, tinnitus, and numbness in extremities, unless vitamin B12 supplements are taken to counteract this.
Pregnant women should not use nitrous oxide as chronic use is teratogenic and foetotoxic.
One study in rats found that long term exposure to high doses of nitrous oxide may lead to Olney's lesions that may become persistent.
Articles:
The Mystery of Mysteries: On the use of certain substances (like laughing gas, Ether and DXM) for the purpose of understanding the origin of the universe and similar mysteries
Research:
Occupational Safety and Health Guideline for Nitrous Oxide
When Nitrous Oxide is No Laughing Matter
E-books:
The NeuroSoup Trip Guide - The free e-book version of The Neurosoup Trip Guide is now available online. It contains chapters on Choosing the Right Hallucinogen; Set, Setting, and Preparation for a Trip; Tips for Tripsitters; Aspects of the Entheogenic Experience; Working with Difficult Experiences; Integration; and References and Recommended Reading.
More Info:
Visit the New Community Trip Reports Area
How to Work With Bad Trips
Buy Legal Entheogens
