Drugs: Doctors warn against current trend drugs such as laughing gas and benzodiazepines

Enlarge image

Nitrous oxide cartridges and balloons in a London park

Photo: Teresa Dapp / picture alliance / dpa

According to Charité psychiatrist Felix Betzler, laughing gas and benzodiazepines are among the current trend drugs among young people. The popularity of benzodiazepines, also known as benzos, is noticeable in addiction counseling centers, the drug expert told the “Tagesspiegel”. »This trend is worrying because these are substances that sometimes have a high potential for addiction. Many young people don't use them in the context of a party, but rather "to chill out".

Benzodiazepines are prescription tranquilizers and sleeping pills. They are usually prescribed for problems falling asleep and staying asleep, anxiety, panic attacks, epilepsy and for muscle relaxation. According to the German Central Office for Addiction Issues, their addictive potential is extremely high.

The psychiatrist also considers laughing gas, which is consumed as a party drug, to be dangerous. Nitrous oxide is nitrous oxide (N2O). Painless surgery became possible for the first time more than 200 years ago with the gas, which has an anesthetic effect in large quantities. Nowadays, other anesthetics are usually used.

According to Betzler, it is not dangerous in a medical context: "But this uncontrolled use can cause you to lose consciousness, there is a proven neurotoxic effect and you can potentially suffocate from it." Nitrous oxide can now be found in many people Buy Berliner Spätis. "They're already available with the right flavor: vanilla, strawberry, all sorts of things," he said.

Information offensive for young people

The trend also worries the German Society for Neurology (DGN). The experts warn in a statement that inhalation of the anesthetic gas could result in severe neurological complaints or blood count disorders. “Laughing gas is currently conquering Germany as a party drug,” the statement said. "It is considered to be supposedly low-risk because the effect wears off after just a few minutes - but that is a massive fallacy!" The anesthetic gas is increasingly being used to lighten the mood and produce feelings of happiness and hallucinations, even euphoria.

Many of those affected did not tell their doctor that they had consumed laughing gas. This often makes it difficult to make a quick diagnosis and thus start therapy quickly, with a greater chance of avoiding long-term damage. “We are seeing more and more people in the clinic seeking medical advice with acute, subacute or long-term neurological consequences,” explained Gereon Fink, board member of the German Brain Foundation and former president of the DGN. "They usually don't mention nitrous oxide consumption when they're first introduced, probably because most people don't make a connection at all, especially when it comes to long-term consequences."

Together with the German Brain Foundation, the DGN is calling for an information offensive, especially for younger people. Because the danger of laughing gas is underestimated: "Very few people know that they can suffer serious, possibly lifelong consequences."

Lung tears caused by -55 degree nitrous oxide cartridges

The DGN said that laughing gas is used as a party drug is not new. »It was already consumed for fun at fairs 200 years ago – and is currently experiencing a disastrous renaissance.«

Consumption is increasing, particularly among teenagers and young adults. In North Rhine-Westphalia, for example, the number of cases of abuse known to the State Criminal Police Office more than tripled from 2022 to 2023.

According to the DGN, what is dangerous is that the cartridges are as cold as minus 55 degrees when used. Direct inhalation can cause severe injuries to fingers or lips, as well as lung ruptures due to the high pressure of the compressed, expanding gas. However, neurologists are particularly concerned about the possible neurological consequences. They ranged from loss of consciousness due to oxygen being expelled from the lungs to symptoms of paralysis and even brain damage.

Chronic consumption can also result in a B12 deficiency, which in turn causes serious blood disorders. In addition, neurological disorders such as so-called funicular myelosis (spinal cord damage) and peripheral neuropathy (disorder of one or more nerves in the peripheral nervous system) are possible. “If the B12 deficiency is not recognized in time, these consequences are sometimes no longer reversible,” it said.

The sale and consumption of laughing gas are not prohibited in Germany. In other countries such as the Netherlands and Great Britain, however, it is already classified as a drug, the DGN said. France has banned sales to minors.

The psychiatrist Felix Betzler criticizes the fact that specific drugs are used in song lyrics, for example by rappers. "When certain substances are advertised there, it has an influence on many young people who might not otherwise come into contact with them," explained the drug expert. »Most of the time, the rappers aren't talking about ecstasy, but rather about tilidine and benzos. The young people then think: If their idol conjures up such substances, they might as well try it out."

sug/dpa