A 24-year-old woman died from long-term complications stemming from her use of nitrous oxide and immobility, an inquest has found.
Ellen Mercer died from a pulmonary embolism after using two to three “big bottles” of the substance each day, an inquest heard.
“This case has highlighted how hugely dangerous it is to use nitrous oxide,” senior coroner Heidi Connor said.
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Describing the student’s death as “such a sad waste of a young woman’s life,” she added her use of the drug had been a “significant cause of her immobility and developing clots.”
Ms Mercer died in February last year after being admitted to hospital with a blister caused by a laughing gas canister stuck to her leg.
She had become a habitual user of nitrous oxide and medics who tried to save her reportedly found “features of neurological compromise”.
Subsequent tests showed nitrous oxide inhalation had resulted in Ms Mercer developing serious circulation and breathing problems.
Her fiance Tom Bailey has told Sky News his bubbly, kind and caring partner would get through three to four canisters in one sitting.
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“Her reactions became slower and her face would show discolouring,” he said. “And then it was all a build-up due to the burns… then she was unable to walk, so then she was unable to go to the toilet.”
Mr Bailey added that his fiancee would “sit there and do all of [the laughing gas] in one go.”
“It got to the point where she couldn’t put it down,” he said. “She’d have to finish it and then she’d want more.
“If she didn’t have it, she wouldn’t be happy without it.”
An ‘extremely serious social problem’
Nitrous oxide itself is not addictive, addiction specialist Chip Somers told Sky News.
He explained: “Psychologically and emotionally, it could certainly have an addictive trait to it. But you’re not going to suffer withdrawal symptoms of a physical nature if you were to suddenly stop taking it.”
Mr Somers is calling for better help for habitual users of the drug. He said: “We should be taking the use of nitrous oxide extremely seriously as a social problem.”
Mr Somers works with people who have stopped using nitrous oxide and said those clients are “not problematic in terms of the physical withdrawal”.
“But they are problematic as they’re then left with all the unhappiness and dysfunction that probably made them start using something quite mind-altering in the first place,” Mr Somers added.
The government last year banned the recreational use of nitrous oxide and dealers can now face up to 14 years in prison. At the time of the student’s death possession of laughing gas with the intent of getting high was not illegal.
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Mr Bailey said he is in favour of criminalising users and has spoken out after his fiancee’s death to warn others of the drug’s severe consequences.
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But Mr Somers says he does not think criminalising “is the way to go”.
“These people are not criminals,” he said. “They are people who need help and criminalising them and punitive fines and maybe even imprisonment is not going to actually solve the problem.”
