{"id":305427,"date":"2026-02-27T21:12:20","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T21:12:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/305427\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T21:12:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T21:12:20","slug":"police-and-ministry-of-health-say-nitrous-oxide-nangs-use-on-rise-factor-in-road-deaths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/305427\/","title":{"rendered":"Police and Ministry of Health say nitrous oxide \u2018nangs\u2019 use on rise, factor in road deaths"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rotorua residents have become frustrated at a recent increase in the use of nangs in public spaces.<\/a><\/p>\n

Assistant Commissioner of Road Policing and District Support Tusha Penny said substances that affected judgment, co-ordination or consciousness could have deadly consequences. <\/p>\n

\u201cPolice [are] concerned with the immediate danger this is posing on the road.<\/p>\n

\"NitrousNitrous oxide use has been implicated in several recent road crashes, police say. Photo \/ NZ Police<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are now seeing an increase in the use of nitrous oxide as a factor in a number of serious crashes, including some crashes where people have died.\u201d<\/p>\n

Penny said the risks were \u201cclear and grave: inhaling nitrous oxide can rapidly cause dizziness, confusion, and blackouts\u201d.<\/p>\n

Police have thanked the public for reports of users inhaling the gas in cars.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have taken action in response to those calls, and they have helped prevent harm and likely saved lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Police have reminded retailers that the sale of nitrous oxide for recreational use primarily to induce a psychoactive effect is illegal under the Psychoactive Substances Act.<\/p>\n

Ministry of Health chief medical officer Dr Joe Bourne said reports of nitrous oxide misuse linked with driving \u201care of particular concern\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"DrDr Joe Bourne said the side effects of inhaling nitrous oxide include dizzyness and blackouts. Photo \/ Bay of Plenty Times- Andrew Warner.<\/p>\n

\u201cNitrous oxide may seem relatively harmless, but it can cause real damage. When it\u2019s inhaled, the gas pushes oxygen out of your lungs and bloodstream, which can make you dizzy, cause you to black out, or even be life-threatening in some cases.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inhalation also had long-term effects.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeparately, we know that heavy, frequent or chronic use can cause nerve damage, leading to weakness, numbness and long-term problems with movement or co-ordination.\u201d<\/p>\n

He advised individuals with concerns about the gas to contact their healthcare providers. <\/p>\n

If you\u2019re concerned about your drinking or drug-taking, you can contact the Alcohol Drug Helpline<\/a> on 0800 787 797, or text 8681.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rotorua residents have become frustrated at a recent increase in the use of nangs in public spaces. Assistant…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":305428,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1443,74,95,1558,29422,15166,15211,3401,92291,42,134,78,18087,7055,28874,153431,43,48357,1118,90,48358,675,1436,1314,5659,2441,40,38,41,39,6306,3382,1455],"class_list":{"0":"post-305427","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-about","9":"tag-after","10":"tag-and","11":"tag-been","12":"tag-crashes","13":"tag-deaths","14":"tag-drivers","15":"tag-drug","16":"tag-factor","17":"tag-headlines","18":"tag-health","19":"tag-in","20":"tag-issued","21":"tag-linked","22":"tag-ministry","23":"tag-nangs","24":"tag-news","25":"tag-nitrous","26":"tag-of","27":"tag-on","28":"tag-oxide","29":"tag-police","30":"tag-rise","31":"tag-road","32":"tag-say","33":"tag-spike","34":"tag-top-news","35":"tag-top-stories","36":"tag-topnews","37":"tag-topstories","38":"tag-use","39":"tag-using","40":"tag-warning"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305427"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305427\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/305428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}