Was Laughing Gas London's Summer Seasonal Fad Drug of Choice?

A Home Office report claims that nitrous oxide is the second most popular recreational drug for 16-24 year olds in a national 2013/2014 crime survey.

The increased recreational use of the legal drug nitrous oxide this summer in London is undeniable. With most London festivals banning laughing gas on their grounds, particularly in east and south London, but in Finsbury Park, events like Wireless, and the FA cup weekend, saw it shift conspicuously from the streets of East to North. With Summer and it’s following festivities around the corner, will this summer be any different from the last?

Nitrous oxide which is intended for the use in catering to keep food remaining fresh, in engines power output, and in medical anaesthesia, has reappeared and been abused as a substance for a brief, and potentially lethal, high. The depressant drug carries dangers with it, and are completely disregarded. The independent government funded drugs advice service FRANK says it slows down your body’s responses, can potentially suffocate you, and leave you brain damaged. Mix these with alcohol or other recreational drugs, and you are most definitely putting yourself in a risky situation. A Home Office report from the University of London discovered between 2006-2012, 17 deaths have occurred from misuse. Victims claimed are, 17 year old Joseph Benett, 23 year old Daniel Watts, and most recently this February, 21 year old Jordan Guise. 

Outside a popular Dalston nightclub on a cold October Saturday night, I approach a young man. Before I introduce myself for a potential interview, I’ am greeted with that familiar whooshing sound in my ear of a balloon being filled with air. It’s followed with a pinging noise as a piece of metal hits the ground at my feet. “Ballooon miss?

A 23 year old anonymous Dalston male vendor, who knew Joseph Benett, says he has been trading the “unlucky” product for the past two years, offering his advice,”don’t do balloons if you don’t know how to use it”. But, what is being done to stop these deaths? Lawfully, not much. Worrying advice from a FRANK representative said “there is not enough advertising on the dangers of it because it is not the drug that carries the most harm”. 

This July, Hackney Council reported the Metropolitan Police confiscated 1,200 of the little canisters on a singular Saturday night in Shoreditch. Nobody was charged. Nitrous oxide is easily and legally purchased online, meaning there are no drug enforcement laws on it. Hackney Council has adopted a method to punish venders of the gas by unauthorised street trading laws, and imposing fines under the Local Authority Act. In comparison, a not so inspiring neighbouring borough, Islington, can only provide information on discarded canisters, and says it “takes littering very seriously”.

Knife Fever, Knife Fever

In the vast urban metropolis that we call London, it is what 8.6 million people currently call their home. With any major city, there is unavoidably always going to be a considerable amount of crime. Recently, there is one crime that stands out in particular, this is the increase of youth related knife crime. This year so far has already seen the fatal stabbings of 5 teenagers in London alone.

One local Islington man who has dealt with this tragic crime first hand is Michael Salas Aira. Feeling ill, and finishing work in a local restaurant on a late February evening in 2014, my guess would be that the then 20-year-old definitely did not foresee himself lying in a hospital bed in the Royal London Hospital attached to various machines. Now 21, and over a year later, I speak to him about the ordeal. He begins to explain the night in question. Hesitant at first, but continuously prompted by his then 16-year-old cousin to accompany him down to a party to assure him arriving safely, he eventually agreed. Upon arrival, he catches wind of the situation between 4 present party guests with an unfavourable relationship between them and his cousin, who are carrying a knife stolen from the property of the party. An argument develops, and in the midst of chaos defending his underage cousin, Michael becomes the victim to a brutal neck stabbing.

Lifting his head to show me his scar, he tells me despite his injuries, he doesn’t regret what he did that night. It was a natural reaction to protect someone he loved. Aside from not receiving his clothes worn on the night back from evidence yet, he expresses his only disappointment with the situation by telling me that the man charged with the stabbing received 24 months rehabilitation, a tag on his ankle, anger classes, and a curfew. “Essentially, a slap on the wrist, then he’s free to go, like nothing ever happened”. He sadly suggests that as much as a person can preach the dangers of knife crime, it will not make any difference. Emily Thornberry, local Labour MP for Islington, who previously spent many years as a criminal barrister, tells me that “what always struck me was the way so many young people caught up in knife crime simply lacked awareness of the power they had to take someone’s life away in a second – that they could change their own life, and end someone else’s, before they even knew it.

Michaels experience is one that reminds us how important life is. With newspaper stories about stabbings in the cities boroughs becoming so regular, it’s sad to think of it as a common occurrence. London authorities must really seize an initiative to combat the rising figures of this disturbing and horrifying crime. Mayor Boris Johnson said the figure of our “best big city on the planet” was predicted to reach 11m by 2050. It terrifies me to think, with a growing urban population divided by means of power and wealth, will this also probably mean a further increase in knife crime and culture.

To Me, From Me

Feeling happy with second semester results, I believed a little present to myself was in order. I recently purchased this beautiful Sterling Silver Wander ring with an onyx gem from Dreamer Jewellery.

Kat's accessories are adorable. Already eyeing up my next purchase, the Sterling Silver Moonstone Poison Box ring.

Check her stuff out!

http://dreamerjewellery.bigcartel.com