Hospitalisations and poisonings from nitrous oxide abuse have become more common, despite Police efforts to crack down on illegal sales.  

Nitrous oxide cannisters – or nangs – are used in medicine and for whipped cream in catering but are increasingly being used as a recreational drug.  

Health New Zealand recorded 29 hospitalisations for poisoning by inhaled anaesthetics like nangs in the year to June, up from 21 the previous year and 10 the year before.  

The agency said “anecdotally, we know that the majority of these hospitalisations will be related to recreational use”.  
National Poisons Centre data released to Newstalk ZB under the Official Information Act shows 21 reports nitrous oxide exposures were reported to the centre last year, up from 19 in 2024 and 11 in 2023.  

Of the exposures reported since 2019, 70% of patients were 20-54 years old, 23% were 13-19 years old, and 7% were aged 2-12 years old.  

The centre said the total number of exposures remains small but appears to be increasing.

Some people reported losing the ability to walk, psychosis, numbness and slurred speech, and some people reported inhaling hundreds of nangs - up to 10 litres of nitrous oxide - in a single day.  

Health New Zealand Regional Chief Medical Officer Te Waipounamu, neurologist Dr David Gow, said heavy use could deplete vitamin B12, which is needed in the spinal cord, nerves and brain.  

Depleting the vitamin could cause people to stagger, lose sensation in their hands and feet and lose control of their bladder, he said.  

“When it’s prolonged use, the symptoms become chronic and the outcome is quite poor, which can have a huge impact on individuals and their whānau.”  

“I’ve got personal experience of seeing patients who have got neurological damage associated with nangs, and I have to say they had no idea that this was a possible outcome.”  

Police have launched a crackdown on the recreational sale of nangs in recent weeks, delivering hundreds of letters to stores and charged one retailer in Rotorua last month.  

Penalties currently include a fine of up to $500,000 or two years’ imprisonment.  

Retail NZ chief executive Carolyn Young said catering companies wouldn’t be buying cannisters from high street stores and any non-specialist retailers selling the canisters should reconsider doing so.  

She said the sale of nangs could also be contributing to retail crime.  

“Some of the youth that have been caught doing retail crime recently have been stealing from stores to sell the product on a black market in order to buy the nitrous oxide.”

Health Minister Simeon Brown said maximum penalties for illegally selling nangs were increased last year.  

“I have requested advice on how effective these changes have been, including whether additional measures are needed to keep New Zealanders safe.”  

Communities Against Alcohol Harm Secretary Grant Hewison said the Government should empower councils to regulate how substances are used and sold and marketed at a local level.  

“It’s just becoming more and more widespread, and we’re really concerned that, you know, we’ll end up with a crisis like we did with synthetic cannabis.”