There are many cases of death and injury caused by teenagers inhaling "laughing gas
"-youth destroyed by "laughing gas"
This picture shows the filling machine that fills "laughing gas" in small cylinders.
Li Chao/photo
On September 10, the Zhenjiang police at the "0209" illegal production and sale of "laughing gas" case news briefing on the scene, telling about the "laughing gas" processing and production process and the circumstances of the case.
Li Chao/photo
Processing machine for illegal filling of "laughing gas" seized by Zhenjiang police.
Photo courtesy of Zhenjiang Police
One day in May 2020, a post-95 Fujian girl Wu Lan (pseudonym) was wearing pajamas, lying on the bed, biting a straw in her mouth.
The other end of the straw was connected to a steel bottle about 40 cm long, and blood-red vomit was left by the bed.
When roommate Wang Yuan (pseudonym) asked someone from the unlocking company to open the door, she found that Wu Lan was no longer breathing.
According to the identification of the Xuzhou police in Jiangsu Province, the components of "laughing gas" were detected in the cylinder and the body of the deceased.
Nitrous oxide is commonly known as "laughing gas" and is often used to make cream foaming agents, medical anesthetics and fuel combustion aids.
The police found multiple transfer records for purchasing "laughing gas" in Wu Lan's mobile phone.
After a year, the police arrested three suspects suspected of illegal trafficking in "laughing gas."
According to a reporter from China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily, in recent years, there have been more than 7 deaths due to inhalation of "laughing gas" in Xuzhou.
In reality, "laughing gas" does not belong to drugs, but because of its simple production, low price, and convenient purchase, it is easy to "populate" among young people. In recent years, people who ingested "laughing gas" caused death and injury. Cases are frequent, and the phenomenon of illegal trafficking of "laughing gas" has been repeatedly banned, and its serious harm to the physical and mental health of young people needs urgent attention.
Wake up, take a breath of "laughing gas", and then go to sleep
Wang Yuan and Wu Lan are junior high school classmates.
In October 2019, the two came to work in Xuzhou from their hometown of Fujian.
Affected by the new crown pneumonia epidemic, Wu Lan, who has been doing nothing in the rental house all day, began to wander around the bar and slowly came into contact with "laughing gas."
"It's not drugs, it's okay to play." Wu Lan once described to Wang Yuan the feeling of inhaling "laughing gas", "It feels dizzy, a kind of suffocation, and it's very exciting. I feel that I have forgotten all my troubles."
In the beginning, Wu Lan bought a bottle of "laughing gas" enough to inhale all night.
Later, she sucked more and more, and she could suck 3 bottles in one night.
Bite the straw in your mouth, take a breath when you wake up, and then go to sleep.
Wang Yuan recalled to the police that on May 17, 2020, Wu Lan drank 7 bottles of beer during dinner with her, and started smoking "laughing gas" after returning home.
Wu Lan didn't get up until 10 o'clock in the evening the next day, and Wang Yuan knocked on the door and no one responded.
"Nothing will happen, right?" Wang Yuan was anxious and contacted the unlocking company.
When the door was opened, Wang Yuan yelled when she saw it. She saw Wu Lan leaning on the bed, motionless, with blood-red vomit left by her pillow.
The police investigation found that before the accident, the "laughing gas" trafficker Kong Xiang (a pseudonym) sent Wu Lan 7 bottles of "laughing gas".
Kong Xiang, a boy born in Xuzhou in 1994, returned to work in his hometown after graduating from an adult education college in a Beijing university in 2015.
Kong Xiang learned from Li Wei (a pseudonym) that he made a lot of money selling "laughing gas".
Li Wei told him that he bought 20 steel cylinders and 10 aluminum bottles for 5,500 yuan. These 2-liter "laughing gas" bottles were sold out in less than a week.
After listening to Li Wei's "business experience", Kong Xiang decided to "do business" in partnership with him.
The 40-liter large tank of "laughing gas" cannot be sold directly, and needs to be divided into small cylinders.
Whenever someone buys "laughing gas," they will repack it overnight in a factory warehouse, and then drive the small cylinders to the door.
Kong Xiang heard that Wu Lan had an accident, he was "extremely scared" and fled to Lianyungang.
In July 2021, he was captured by the police.
Subsequently, his other two partners were also arrested by the police.
The police investigation found that between January 2020 and May 2020, they had sold "laughing gas" to Wu Lan 6 times, and the amount involved was 1,960 yuan.
The amount of "laughing gas" they illegally sold amounted to more than 250,000 yuan.
Use "laughing gas" to attract bar traffic
At around 7 pm on May 4, 2018, in a hotel in the Xuzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone, a cleaner was about to clean the room, but knocked on the door for a long time without a response.
When they opened the door, they found a girl lying motionless on the bed, biting a plastic tube in her mouth.
According to the analysis of the autopsy report, the local police believed that the 18-year-old female Li Ling (pseudonym) was poisoned by laughing gas and died.
According to the prosecutor of the People's Procuratorate of Xuzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone, Li Ling met Zhang Bin (pseudonym), a "laughing gas" trafficker at a local bar.
On the day of the incident, Zhang Bin sent her two 2-liter cans of "laughing gas".
The post-95 bar owner "Diandian", when he opened a bar with his friends in 2018, he found that "laughing gas" became popular in Xuzhou, and many young people were willing to smoke.
"It's very cool. It's a lot of face to smoke with friends." "Diandian" said in a police investigation that he took a fancy to "laughing gas" to increase bar traffic and bring more revenue.
To this end, he bought 10 large cans of "laughing gas."
After sub-packaging, he sells it at a price of 80 yuan per small can.
What he didn't expect was that the "laughing gas" business was extremely hot, and it was sold out within two days.
According to estimates, he sold 800 small cans in total, with a profit of more than 38,000 yuan.
He gradually became a well-known "Er Dao dealer" in the circle.
Zhang Bin bought the goods from him. From March to May 2018, Zhang Bin bought 16 cans of 40-liter "laughing gas" in 8 times.
In the end, both were sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment and fined by the local court for illegal business operations.
Not long ago, the reporter contacted Li Ling's father by phone.
Talking about his daughter, Mr. Li paused, and after a few seconds of silence, he intermittently said: "The past is so sad, I don't want to mention it again."
The other deceased, Li Lan (pseudonym), was also a frequent visitor to the bar, often drinking and cheering up with friends.
On June 4, 2019, she bought 3 cans of "laughing gas" from the Internet and "cheered up" in a friend's house.
At noon the next day, she had stopped breathing when she was found.
The autopsy report showed that Li Lan died of overdose of "laughing gas".
Li Lan's father couldn't hide his grief in the interview. He hoped that relevant state departments could strengthen the crackdown and supervision of "laughing gas" through legislation and other forms.
Increase the control of the sales of "laughing gas" on the online platform
According to a doctor from the Department of Psychiatry at the Zhongda Hospital of Southeast University, in recent years, the bad habit of inhaling "laughing gas" has been imported from abroad, causing some young people to go on "wrong roads."
Their hospital has received multiple cases of injuries caused by overdose of "nitrous oxide".
According to the doctor, inhaling "laughing gas" will cause the lack of vitamin B in the body, which will affect the nerves. In severe cases, it can cause deformation of the legs and feet and paralysis of the lower body.
Although "laughing gas" is not physically addictive, it is very easy to "psychological addiction" to users. After overdose, it may also cause death due to suffocation.
According to Wang Guangbin, Director of the Second Procuratorate of the People’s Procuratorate of Yunlong District, Xuzhou City, Xuzhou has dealt with drugs a lot in recent years. As "laughing gas" is not a drug and the price is relatively cheap, many young people mistakenly believe that it is "laughing gas." There is no harm.
In Wang Guangbin's view, the supervision of the "laughing gas" trading link is relatively difficult, especially the lack of strict monitoring of online sales, and the development of networks and logistics has exacerbated the uncontrollability of sales channels.
He suggested that production channels and sales targets should be monitored regularly, and special monitoring should be given to sales to people without operating licenses or merchants, including the control of related words related to "laughing gas" on the online platform.
Once discovered, the platform must promptly warn and take precautions to avoid improper expansion of illegal sales channels.
Zhou Shihong, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and vice chairman of the Anhui Lawyers Association, is heartbroken over the phenomenon of teenagers inhaling "laughing gas".
He submitted relevant proposals at the National Two Sessions in 2021, suggesting that "laughing gas" should be included in narcotic drugs or psychotropic drugs for control.
He believes that the production method of "laughing gas" is relatively simple, and it is widely used in production and life as a combustion aid and food additive. However, due to the lack of strict control, the trend of younger users is becoming more serious.
Zhou Shihong introduced that in June 2021, the National Medical Products Administration replied that "laughing gas" is widely used in various industries, and a large number of upstream and downstream enterprises use "laughing gas" to produce and process various products.
"Laughing gas" has certain social needs.
The reply also stated that in recent years, relevant departments have been increasing their efforts to combat "laughing gas" and have achieved certain results.
In March 2020, the Ministry of Public Security deployed Shandong to carry out a special operation, cracking 111 criminal cases of "laughing gas", destroying 3 illegal filling dens, seizing more than 3,000 litres of "laughing gas", administrative penalties for 305 people, and criminal penalties for 28 people , 189 drug addicts were seized.
At the same time, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai and other places are urged to strengthen the clean-up and rectification of illegal information on the Internet.
Zhou Shihong suggested that relevant departments should actively crack down on illegal trafficking in "laughing gas".
The legislative branch should promulgate relevant laws as soon as possible to provide a more precise legal basis for combating "laughing gas".
At the same time, schools, news media, etc. have stepped up publicity efforts to keep young people away from "laughing gas" and grow up healthily.
China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily reporter Li Chao Source: China Youth Daily