Galaxy Gas may sound like something found in a gaseous location like Saturn, Jupiter or Uranus. But in this case, it's the brand name of a nitrous oxide-filled cartridge that's designed to convert cream into whipped cream. The problem, though, is that many young people aren't exactly cooking with this type of gas. No, instead, they are getting baked, so to speak, inhaling the nitrous oxide from these products in attempts to get high.
The practice of inhaling nitrous oxide isn't new. You may have heard various nicknames for nitrous oxide like laughing gas, whippets, whippits, nitro, nangs, nossies, hippy crack and balloons -- because you can never have enough ways of saying that you'll be getting high. It's just that Galaxy Gas, marketed by a vendor in Georgia, has apparently given folks another way to inhale this colorless gas -- via a stainless-steel pressurized cartridge. If you search online retailers like Amazon, Walmart and eBay, you can find Galaxy Gas in various fun-sounding flavors like "Strawberry Cream", "Mango Smoothie", "Vanilla cupcake" and "WaterMelon Lemonade."
When something sounds fun and flavorful, guess where it may appear. Here's a hint, the answer rhymes with "ocial edia." Yes, it's become a thing for people to post videos on social media of themselves inhaling Galaxy Gas. And you know what tends to happen when someone, especially an "influencer," posts something on social media. Yep, others tend to imitate it, even if it's dangerous to do like trying to fly in the air or cooking chicken in Nyquil.
In fact, it's gotten to the point that social media platforms like YouTube and TikTok have taken steps to bottle the spread of Galaxy Gas videos. For example, if you search for #GalaxyGas on TikTok, you'll get a warning that says, "Be informed and aware. Some substances can be dangerous when used or misused. Learn more about how drugs, alcohol and tobacco can affect your mind, body and behavior."
Why the warning? Well, despite its laughing gas moniker, recreational use of nitrous oxide is no laughing matter. First of all, it's not going to make you laugh. Instead, nitrous oxide when inhaled can keep oxygen from getting to your brain. That's what gives the lightheaded and euphoric feeling that recreational users are seeking, along with stuff like a sensation of floating while losing other sensations. Visual and auditory hallucinations can result as well. Since this high typically only lasts a few minutes, it's common practice to repeatedly inhale nitrous oxide in succession to keep the feeling going.
Sounds great, right? What could possibly go wrong when you cut off the oxygen supply to you brain? Well, the answer is lots. It can mess around with your memory, intelligence, or concentration. You can experience dizziness, weakness, slurred speech, irregular heartbeats, loss of balance or coordination, blurry vision, headaches and delusions. Oh, and guess what else can happen when you don't have enough oxygen flow to your brain: you can fall down and pass out, which is frequently not a convenient thing to do.
Long-term use of nitrous oxide can over time lead to even more badness. There's potential damage to your brain, liver, bone marrow, and kidney, all parts of your body that are sort of important. Nitrous oxide can also keep vitamin B12 from being absorbed, which in turn can leave to nerve damage. You can have persistent ringing in your ears too. There's also possible loss of bladder or bowel control. Finally, depression, psychosis and other mental health issues can result. Sounds fun, right?
Again, Galaxy Gas is not the only way that people can get their hands on nitrous oxide. Other brands use nitrous oxide to create whipped cream and as a propellant in pressurized cans. Nitrous oxide also can serve as preservative for various food items. Then there are the longstanding medical uses of nitrous oxide for sedation, pain relief and anesthesia purposes. Since there are a number of legitimate uses for nitrous oxide, it's not super hard to obtain.
Inhaling chemicals to get high has been a continuing problem among teens. A 2017 report from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration indicated that around 684,000 of those between the ages of 12 to 17 had in 2015 used inhalants sometime in the previous year. That's around 2.7 percent of them, compared to 0.4 percent of adults aged 18 or older. Use was more common among female adolescents than male adolescents. The most common inhalants were felt-tip or magic markers or pens but 112,000 or 0.4% of 12 to 17 year-olds had used nitrous oxide at some point in their lives.
Some efforts have been made to curtail this use of nitrous oxide. Galaxy Gas, LLC, which apparently is owned by Pluto Brands, LLC, has included on their website warnings against using their products as inhalants. Many stores have tried to limit purchases of nitrous oxide-containing products to those who are over 18. But, you may or may not have heard of these thing called fake IDs and lying that teens may use. A number of states have made misuse of nitrous oxide a crime, but that can be challenging to enforce.
Some celebrities have warned about this nitrous oxide use trend and urged more to be done about it. For example, here's a tweet -- or an X or whatever it's now called --
If you yourself would like to misuse Galaxy Gas or inhale nitrous oxide from some other source for fun, don't. It's better to bake something like a fruitcake than get baked. If you've got kids, then you may want to talk to them about the dangers of such inhalants. Give them the scientific facts about what nitrous oxide can do to their brains. Knowing that they have only one brain and need to protect it may help them pass on the gas.