"Hey ruin my life for a while", "When is the sword hidden in the smile"
Multiple identities lead to the existence of blind spots in the supervision of laughing gas.
Our reporter Lan Tianming
"Sweet feeling, it seems that time has solidified when you smoke." In the eyes of the user, laughter can bring short-term happiness.
"Ballooning" and "cream cream bomb"... These words are quietly popular among teenagers, but many people lack enough understanding of the danger of "knife hiding in a smile".
Laughing gas, scientific name nitrous oxide, is widely used in food, medical and other industries. It is a dangerous chemical and has a strong addiction. After inhalation, people will have hallucinations and laugh unconsciously.
Some people squander hundreds of thousands of yuan a year to buy laughter, and even use it as a vendor; some people gain weight, hallucinations, urinary incontinence, lower limb paralysis after smoking; some people interrupt their studies, alienate family and friends; others The price of life has already been paid... At present, there have been many cases of illness, disability, and death caused by laughing gas in China.
At present, laughter control has been strengthened, but the reporter's investigation found that there are still problems such as easy access to online platforms and supervision and punishment of blind areas. Laughing is still "laughing", how to cut off the black industry chain? How to strengthen management and punishment, so that illegal traffic and abusers "can't laugh"?
The joke was so bad that he couldn’t stop
The reporter learned from the Shanghai procuratorate that Xu, a school girl student born in 1998 in the city, had been laughing for four years, which caused her legs to be unable to stand, but she still chose to use it for trafficking. The District People's Procuratorate arrested on suspicion of illegal operation. After investigation, Xu determined that the sales of laughing gas for profit-making purposes amounted to more than 720,000 yuan.
"Once you touch this thing, the consequences will not be good." Zhang Ze, a 19-year-old student in the Shanghai Municipal Mental Health Center's Substance Addiction Department, told the doctor about the experience of smoking and laughing.
While studying in the US, she experienced laughter for the first time at her friend's birthday party. Seeing that everyone else was smoking at the time, she thought: "Try it only once, it should be fine." After this attempt, "I started to buy online. At first, I filled the balloon with air, and then used a gun to open the air. The bullet sucked. Sometimes I was playing for seven or eight hours a day, and my hands were rotten, the whole hand was numb, and my mouth was ulcerated," Zhang Ze recalled.
Later, she didn't go to class altogether. She had a messy diet and rest every day. Before dawn, she went to sleep and gradually disconnected herself from her friends. In Zhang Ze's house, there is a wall full of laughter bombs. "Only if there is enough inventory, I feel confident. If there is no inventory, I will feel anxious." She said.
But she didn't want to change. She wants to be restrained, want to go to class, and wants to cook at home, but her brain doesn't listen. "Especially when I saw my roommate sucking in laughter, then I continued to suck," she said.
Zhang Ze is not the first patient received by the Shanghai Mental Health Center to be addicted to laughing gas. As early as 2017, the college had received an international student who was pushed in by a wheelchair. His limbs were weak, his feet could not walk, he could only stay in bed, and other people needed to take care of eating, drinking, and going to the toilet. Since then, the hospital has received more than 10 patients, all young people between 18 and 20 years old, mostly international students.
Du Jiang, director of the Division of Substance Addiction of the Shanghai Mental Health Center, called the laughter "hi and ruin the whole world". She said that as an ancient anesthetic gas, nitrous oxide was used in minor surgery before, and is now used as a foaming agent for cakes and coffee. The human body can produce pleasure after smoking, but long-term use can cause addiction and a series of hazards.
"Mainly affects the metabolism of cobalamin. Methylcobalamin is an essential raw material for the nervous system and the hematopoietic system. The lack of methylcobalamin can cause obstacles to multiple systems including the hematopoietic system and the nervous system, such as anemia, and severe cases can not walk , Or even suffocated to death." She said.
Although several patients were able to recover through several weeks of drug, psychological, and sports rehabilitation treatment, Du Jiang was worried about these young people who used to laugh.
She still remembers an international student who had recovered from treatment, and said to her before she left-"Although I am recovering well now, I may relapse after returning" "You don't know how much happiness this brings me. Someone Say'bag' cures all diseases, and now I am given $1,000. What I think of is not to buy a bag, but how many boxes of laughter to buy. These can make me happy for a long time."
"Because laughter is not currently included in the scope of drug control, it is not suitable for treatment in community detoxification or detoxification centers. After abuse, physical and mental health problems can only be sent to the hospital. If these young people return to the circle of laughter It is not clear whether the physical damage caused by repeated use can be recovered," Du Jiang said.
Take the "Internet + Courier" to sell Fengchi
Although the control of the abuse of laughter is gradually strengthened. However, the reporter found that under the cover of "Internet + express delivery", it is very convenient to obtain laughter.
Under the guidance of a smoker, the reporter found multiple commodities and businesses in the Xianyu and QQ groups, many of which sold the "smile gas bomb" under the guise of selling "8g carbon dioxide empty bottles".
In the purchase link sent to the reporter by the merchant named "Peach", the product name was replaced by "empty bottle", and the monthly sales amount reached "50,000+". The sales of the rest of the products in the store are all 0; the merchant named "KS" has advertised the "New Year's stocking as soon as possible, taking a thigh step late" in the circle of friends before the Spring Festival this year. During the New Coronary Pneumonia epidemic, the "National "Goods" "order" and other content.
Most of these merchants require the purchase of 5 boxes to 10 boxes for delivery, each box has 240 to 300 8-gram cylinders, and the price ranges from 1.4 yuan to 4 yuan each. The delivery method is courier.
It is understood that as a dangerous chemical, laughing gas requires enterprises to obtain permits and qualifications granted by relevant departments in production, storage, operation, transportation, etc., and individuals cannot obtain them at will. If the purpose is to smoke, most of the smokers use illegal channels to purchase large amounts of money.
Xie Chuanyu, director of the Emergency Police Research Center of the People's Public Security University of China, once calculated the nitrous oxide sold online, and the average price of canned nitrous oxide for every 8 grams of gas is about 10 times that of a regular cream gas bomb, which is a huge profit.
A merchant named "Fish King" told reporters that most of the online sales are illegal filling in China, and they are attached to foreign brands that are well-known in the "circle". "If you are worried about quality or being investigated, you can buy cream gas bombs, but you need to increase the price. , The price is also the highest".
By searching for keywords such as "nitrous oxide", the reporter inquired about a sales company with a high search ranking. The sales staff quoted the reporter that a 40-liter bottle of nitrous oxide gas was priced at 900 yuan. The salesperson also stated that there is no need to provide any formalities and proofs and can be sent directly to the designated location.
Taking the convenience of "Internet + express delivery", ridiculously sells the wind and electricity. The Qingpu District Prosecutor's Office in Shanghai filed a public prosecution and the nation's largest case of illegally operating a ridiculous case is the way to sell ridiculous gas to all parts of the country.
In March 2018, Zhuang set up a studio in an apartment in Jing'an District, Shanghai, and sent advertisements and smoking teaching videos through WeChat. Public security organs seized a total of 1,726 boxes of three brands of nitrous oxide in their leased warehouses, studios and other places, and the value of illegal operations exceeded 23 million yuan. In November 2019, Zhuang and two other defendants were sentenced to nine years in prison and five years and six months.
The delivery courier admits that he delivers 2 to 3 orders for the studio every day, "The studio person said it was food, and other colleagues delivered it. The consignee is usually young men and women, but I don’t Know what to buy".
In another case of illegally operating laughing gas, the courier who delivered the laughing gas claimed that the places where he delivered the laughing gas included "The Bund 188, Victoria Square, and the hotel at the train station" in Shanghai. The delivery time was from 10 pm Four or five in the morning.
Regarding the problem of entrained contraband products, many express delivery companies expressed "helplessness" to reporters: The current phenomenon of illegally sending contraband products to users is difficult to put an end, and the problem of courier delivery in the same city without transit screening is more prominent. "Some users will even The contraband is hidden in the soil, and there is no way to eliminate it by inspection on the spot."
Abuse of laughter, supervision needs to be "cross-browed"
Food additives, dangerous chemicals, medical anesthetics...Businessmen use the multiple identities of laughing gas to find legal gaps. "Abuse started in foreign countries, laughter is not classified as a drug in China, but in recent years, vicious cases have occurred frequently, and there is an increasingly serious situation, which should be paid attention to." Xie Chuanyu said.
Earlier, the 2016 World Drug Survey report released by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime showed that laughing gas became the seventh most popular drug abuse in the world. But in reality, the supervision and punishment of laughter are both in trouble. The current "Regulations on the Safety Management of Dangerous Chemicals" do not prohibit the sale of laughing gas to individuals.
A Shandong policeman told Xie Chuanyu that when he inspected entertainment venues in the jurisdiction, he found that there were many business operations that provided laughter to customers, and then it was found that the gas was a dangerous chemical, and only the findings and clues could be handed over. To the safety supervision department.
Xie Chuanyu pointed out that the current legislation cannot yet restrict the sale of laughter and personal "entertainment use" by "certified enterprises" to individuals, resulting in the public security organs having no power to prohibit or punish abuse. As hazardous chemicals, the industry, commerce, health and safety supervision departments have the right to stipulate the scope and dosage of the enterprise, and they lack the responsibility to supervise the purchase and use of individuals.
"The compulsory management of upgrading laughter should be sooner rather than later." Xu Ding, head of the theoretical research center of Shanghai Drug Abuse Administration, believes that the laughter of "entertainment use" should be included in the list of new psychoactive substances as soon as possible for medical and food uses. The "smile" must strengthen management in the production, use, sales and circulation links to increase the illegal cost of the entire chain.
"The National Food and Drug Supervision Department, the Health Department, the Emergency Management Department and the Public Security Department can jointly issue announcements to make clear provisions on the sale and purchase of nitrous oxide, prohibiting sales to individuals, and prohibiting individual purchases and use." Xie Chuanyu Suggest.
(At the request of the interviewee, Zhang Ze became a pseudonym)