The Los Angeles City Council voted 14-0 Wednesday to ban smoke shops and other tobacco retailers from selling or distributing nitrous oxide for recreational use, responding to a growing street scene involving tanks, balloons and people getting high on the gas known as “laughing gas” or NAWS.
The ordinance includes an exception for pre-packaged food products that use nitrous oxide as a propellant. It now heads to Mayor Karen Bass for final approval.
Councilmember Imelda Padilla has pushed the measure for two years, saying the effort has drawn support from community partners, other cities and counties, and now the state level.
“For two years now I’ve worked closely with community partners… and the city attorney to usher this policy through the council process. Along the way we have seen support from our community, we’ve seen other cities and counties join and it’s even gone all the way to the state level,” Padilla said.
Padilla pointed to two new state laws that give Los Angeles additional tools to restrict sales. SB 758 prohibits smoke shops, tobacco retailers and convenience stores from selling nitrous oxide altogether. SB 936 bans flavored nitrous oxide and restricts the sale of large unflavored tanks commonly used recreationally.
“Our fight against the recreational sale of nitrous oxide, often called NAWS, now has new tools at the state level,” Padilla said.
Albert Melena, a representative of the San Fernando Valley Partnership, a nonprofit focused on healthy communities, said the issue goes beyond street parties.
“73% of the schools in the city of Los Angeles are within 1,000 feet of a smoke shop,” Melena said. “This is literally a public health issue.”
The push for a crackdown gained momentum after a large crowd gathered near the Orpheum Theatre in downtown LA in late July, clutching nitrous oxide tanks and inhaling gas from balloons. The group appeared rowdy, and a makeshift sidewalk bar was seen serving alcohol nearby.
Nitrous oxide is a colorless, nonflammable gas commonly used by dentists for pain relief. Recreational use can produce feelings of euphoria and hallucinations, but heavy or improper use can cause serious injury or death.
In June, a driver in Rancho Palos Verdes was allegedly caught driving while impaired after inhaling NAWS, blowing through stop signs and nearly hitting parked vehicles. Police found ice-cold nitrous tanks and balloons in his vehicle.
With Wednesday’s vote, the city is moving to cut off one of the main retail sources of the gas fueling the recreational trend.
