Nitrous oxide is the 2nd most common recreational drug according to a medical professional in Suffolk
Nitrous oxide, also known as laughing gas is illegal from today
Nitrous oxide commonly known as laughing gas will be made illegal from today.
It will be made a controlled Class C substance - with serial users facing two years behind bars while dealers could be jailed for up to 14 years
Andrew Kelso is a medical director for Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board, he is also a consultant neurologist and has seen first-hand some of the dangers that excessive use of nitrous oxide can cause and he is relieved something is being done.
"It's really good news. It is a difficult law to uphold because it's still legal to buy and use the canisters for appropriate use like catering uses, but anything that makes it more difficult, and less socially acceptable to buy is great news, because it's it's it's a massive problem in some parts of England."
The danger of nitrous oxide
Andrew told us there are practical concerns as the gas is released at minus 40 degrees and causes burns as well as damage to the nervous system.
The damage can take a while to appear as the "symptoms are progressive, somewhere between two and six weeks" from the when the individual excessively used it.
The damage occurs because "Nitrous oxide can reduce the amount of vitamin B12 in your body and particularly in your blood."
Andrew explained the most common damage to the nervous system damage was to the spinal cord, "causing inflammation and scarring in the spinal cord and in mild cases that gives some tingling in the hands and the feet which will resolve with treatment."
He went on to say how in severe cases "it can make people's balance so bad that they can't walk. And there are some cases of people being weak and having muscle weakness as a result of it as well."
Treatment available
Andrew explained when people come into the hospital, they do tests to help confirm the diagnosis. That includes some blood tests and usually a scan of the spinal cord called an MRI scan.
And treatment is started quickly, it "is an injection of vitamin B12 into the muscle and that has to be repeated in severe cases. Sometimes every second day for up to a fortnight."
He told us this "will give you the best chance of recovering, but in some cases even that doesn't create a complete recovery and some people are left with permanent symptoms that never go away."