Luxembourgers abuse laughing gas

Luxembourg authorities have recorded a sharp rise in the misuse of nitrous oxide (N₂O), commonly known as "laughing gas". According to waste management initiative SuperDrecksKëscht (SDK), the country collected 6 tonnes of empty canisters last year - three times more than the year before and 60 times more than three years ago. The gas is used in the food industry, medicine and for inflating balloons, but is increasingly becoming a cheap and accessible "party" drug among young people.

Unlike France, the UK and Germany, Luxembourg has no plans to restrict sales. Alain Origer, the national drug coordinator, believes that such bans will do little without a serious evaluation of their effectiveness, since the substance can be easily bought on the Internet. He insists on coordinated action at the EU level. However, he said, the increase in the number of canisters collected does not necessarily reflect the real increase in the number of users.

PIPAPO programme manager Carlos Paulos also notes that there is no mass consumption, with only a few groups of young people experimenting with the gas. They are given away by the balloons they are sometimes seen with in public.

Although the euphoria of nitrous oxide lasts only a few seconds, doctors warn that frequent or prolonged use can lead to severe neurological damage and even paralysis. The canisters themselves are also dangerous - according to Paul Rasqué of the Ministry of Environment, Climate and Biodiversity, their improper disposal has already led to explosions in incinerators in Luxembourg and abroad.

The authorities remind: gas cans must not be thrown into household waste, but must be recycled at specialised recycling points.