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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n A spate of deaths has been linked to nitrous oxide use as a rising number of Victorians suffer permanent spinal and neurological injuries after inhaling the gas from supersized canisters.<\/p>\n Doctors across Melbourne warn rampant recreational use of the substance, inhaled from metal canisters known as \u201cnangs,\u201d has triggered a sharp rise in emergency department presentations and led to devastating health outcomes including paralysis, severe burns and life-threatening complications.<\/p>\n New Coroner\u2019s Court of Victoria data also reveals a cluster of accidental deaths linked to nitrous oxide, including five people who died last year.<\/p>\n The data also showed an alarming spike in deaths following increased use during coronavirus pandemic in 2020. To date, there have been 16 deaths linked to nitrous oxide between 2020 and 2025, following coronial investigations, compared to just four in the preceding two decades.<\/p>\n Deputy director of emergency medicine at St Vincent\u2019s Hospital in Melbourne Dr Brendan Morrissey said he had treated young people who had arrived in cardiac arrest after inhaling the gas, while others were being left with irreversible brain and spinal damage and loss of bodily function including incontinence.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re definitely seeing a significant increase in presentations with complications from nitrous oxide use,\u201d Morrissey said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve had tragic cases. It really sets off a chain of events. People are getting permanent neurological changes and permanent loss of lower limb function. This is irreversible nerve damage, where they can\u2019t feel their legs or walk because of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas, is a short-acting, inhaled anesthetic and analgesic which has been used for sedation in medical settings for more than 180 years.<\/p>\n Recreational use of nitrous oxide has soared across Australia due to its low cost and accessibility.<\/p>\n Related Article In Victoria, sale of nitrous oxide for culinary or medical purposes is legal, however, it is illegal to sell or supply it if the retailer knows or has reasonable cause to believe the purchaser intends to inhale it.<\/p>\n But the substance remains readily available at some convenience stores. Advertisements online show large canisters marketed as \u201ccream chargers filled with certified pure nitrous oxide\u201d available for fast, doorstep delivery. Online shops are also selling supersized canisters, containing more than three litres of the gas, with names like \u201cSupremeMax tank\u201d.<\/p>\n Morrissey said doctors were also treating increasing numbers of people who had thermal burns after inhaling the gas from oversized metal canisters.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are coming into the hospital with horrible burns, it is like freeze burn on their lips, fingers, their nose in their airways,\u201d he said. \u201cThey can end up with nasty burns to their inner thighs as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Royal Melbourne Hospital\u2019s director of emergency medicine, Dr Mark Putland, has also observed the worrying trend.<\/p>\n \u201cThe consequences are catastrophic,\u201d he said. \u201cIt has become a huge problem. It is causing permanent spinal damage, brain damage, psychosis. People are becoming paraplegic because of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Putland said while nitrous oxide hospital presentations were once overwhelmingly university students, often from overseas, healthcare workers were now seeing people of all ages including teenagers, people in their 20s, 30s and older.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re seeing everybody, the 50-year-old Anglo blokes to young really young people,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople are using vast amounts of it. They are buying five litre tanks of the stuff. These are industrial-sized tanks.\u201d<\/p>\n Putland said a growing number of the people who were being harmed or overdosing appeared to be in the grips of addiction.<\/p>\n The consequences are catastrophic. It has become a huge problem. People are becoming paraplegic because of it.<\/p>\n Royal Melbourne Hospital director of emergency medicine Dr Mark Putland<\/p>\n \u201cIt can be a really addictive drug, and it\u2019s a really tragic thing to see someone who has just lost their way,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Nitrous oxide can cause severe functional Vitamin B12 deficiency by chemically altering and inactivating the crucial vitamin within the body.<\/p>\n Heavy use of the gas can also destroy the protective coating around the nerves causing muscle weakness, loss of balance, walking difficulties, and permanent paralysis.<\/p>\n Morrissey said people were arriving at hospital with a broad spectrum of symptoms from nausea, vomiting to limb weakness, tingling in their hands and feet and serious psychiatric issues such as psychosis, sensory hallucinations.<\/p>\n \u201cThe problem is that you can now get it in massive amounts and people are taking huge amounts consistently to maintain that high, so they are running into complications much more quickly,\u201d Morrissey said.<\/p>\n Morrissey said five years ago it was a relatively rare presentation to hospital, but now it has become routine.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s cheap, very available, and in vogue,\u201d he said. \u201cI worry that because it is used in medicine and commercially, it is so readily available people don\u2019t appreciate the terrible risks of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Dr Jacqueline Maplesden, an emergency physician with a special interest in toxicology at St Vincent\u2019s Hospital Melbourne said many of the complications caused by nitrous oxide were reversible if early caught and treated quickly.<\/p>\n She said treatment typically involved Vitamin B12 supplementation, which included high-dose oral or intramuscular injections of the vitamin to rapidly correct the deficiency caused by inhaling nitrous oxide.<\/p>\n \u201cIt often involves injections over a long period of time,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Some people required intensive rehabilitation and have to relearn how to walk.<\/p>\n Maplesden said many people had shifted from using small \u201cnangs\u201d with about eight grams of nitrous oxide, such as those used an aerosol propellant to whip cream, to larger canisters now contain up to 200 times the amount of the gas in them.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s basically a gas that\u2019s cooled and pressurised, and it\u2019s usually inhaled in a balloon to prevent the gas coming out at pressure,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Maplesden said in medical settings, nitrous oxide is always mixed with oxygen to prevent hypoxia (low oxygen).<\/p>\n However, commercial sized canisters contain no oxygen so when inhaled in an enclosed space people are at heightened risk of asphyxiating and seizures.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople need to know about the potential harm and the complications from using this agent and the importance of seeking help early,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Morrissey said emergency doctors across Melbourne were gathering data on the rise in hospital presentations and the symptoms patients are exhibiting.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery hospital is experiencing the same thing,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are all getting our heads around understanding early treatment and early screening for it.\u201d<\/p>\n Pennington Institute chief executive John Ryan said tighter regulation and a national campaign warning Australians of the dangers of nitrous oxide were urgently needed.<\/p>\n \u201cThe deaths linked to nitrous oxide are just the tip of the iceberg,\u201d Ryan said. \u201cThe permanent harm it is causing is mind-boggling. This really is a new frontier of harm from substances, and it is readily available, and people don\u2019t realise how dangerous it is.\u201d<\/p>\n In her findings for the death of a 26-year-old man who died by suffocation after using a mask to inhale nitrous oxide in his home alone in 2023, Victorian Coroner Audrey Jamieson said last year the growing number of unintended deaths linked to the gas was \u201cparticularly concerning\u201d.<\/p>\n In 2021, Australia\u2019s medicines watchdog, the Therapeutic Goods Administration, decided the risks of nitrous oxide could be managed through warning-based controls, despite calls for the substance to be deemed a Schedule 10 poison.<\/p>\n Schedule 10 poison classifications are given to substances identified as a danger to human health, meaning sale, supply and use are generally prohibited.<\/p>\n But the TGA said such a classification would be disproportionate given the substance\u2019s legitimate uses.<\/p>\n A TGA spokesman said the watchdog was now working with states and territories on potential responses to the risks associated with the misuse of nitrous oxide.<\/p>\n \u201cThe TGA continues to monitor nitrous oxide misuse,\u201d he said. \u201d Of particular concern is the increased availability of large single-use canisters since the original scheduling decision was made.\u201d<\/p>\n Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n![\"Dr](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/9a6dce4271e1bf6934325bf2d6a17427c394370d.jpeg\")
Dr Brendan Morrissey Dr Jacqueline Maplesden of St Vincent\u2019s Hospital.Ruby Alexander<\/p>\n![\"Victorians](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/76283a2ccadfb2a6f55b1f78417531ac7e4b0996a15cf936ebed08756c78d533.gif\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Royal](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/e91b7bdd8ac3edeed662ab730af7a43f02efe8bf.jpeg\")
Royal Melbourne Hospital\u2019s director of emergency medicine, Dr Mark Putland said the consequences of nitrous oxide can be catastrophic.Joe Armao<\/p>\n![\"Supersized](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/504c5631b07a2301793041bbb5a9a11bfca45b05.jpeg\")
Supersized \u2018nang\u2019 nitrous oxide cannisters are\u00a0scattered all over Melbourne.Bridget McArthur<\/p>\n![\"Melissa](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1769749758_761_06ac05e176127e8b9d1cae2cca9a7b30e2e45bc8.png\")
Melissa Cunningham<\/a> is a health reporter for The Age. She has previously covered crime and justice.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":720731,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-720730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/720730","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=720730"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/720730\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/720731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=720730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=720730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=720730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}