There has been a 130 per cent increase in people presenting for treatment for the misuse of nitrous oxide since they started recording figures on the National Drug Treatment Reporting System in 2022, the HSE has revealed.
In 2022, 30 cases of problematic use of nitrous oxide were recorded in Ireland, characterised as either a main problem drug or an additional problem drug.
The figure went up to 54 in 2023 and to 56 in 2024, while 69 cases of problematic use of the drug were recorded last year.
Of the cases recorded last year, 34 were aged 17 or under; 28 were aged between 18 and 24. Of the 209 cases between 2022 and 2025, 119 – 57 per cent – were under the age of 18.
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The figures were released to Sinn Féin TD for Dublin Mid West, Mark Ward.
Ward is a behavioural therapist who specialises in working with people with addiction and dual diagnosis issues. He says he has been raising the issue of nitrous oxide misuse since 2020.
“We have seen the evidence for ourselves, with the number of discarded canisters – first the small silver bullets, and then the large industrial-sized canisters – increase in our parks, on our streets. This gas can have long-term impacts on children who misuse it.
“We have seen reports and studies showing an increase in the number of people with permanent damage from nitrous oxide misuse, including spinal cord and nerve damage, particularly young people.”
Ward received the figures on foot of a parliamentary question. He said his question to the Minister for Health was about the number of presentations to emergency departments with nitrous oxide-related injuries.
“But this figure is not recorded. I expect this figure to be much higher than the data that is collected,” Ward said.
“The Government has not acted on this and it does not look like they will any time soon. They clearly do not realise the issues that people are facing, but enough evidence is there.”
Nitrous oxide, commonly known as “laughing gas”, is commonly dispensed in to balloons and inhaled. It induces a short, 30-second high.
It was discovered in 1772 by the English chemist Joseph Priestley, and later popularised by chemist Humphry Davy as both an anaesthetic in dentistry and an intoxicant at parties.
