There’s only one reason Rishi Sunak is cracking down on nitrous oxide – it’s not because he cares about getting drugs off the streets

Rishi Sunak must be terribly afraid of Generation Z.

Surely that can be the only reason he wants to make illegal possession of nitrous oxide, better known as laughing gas or Nos, a drug that is one of the most popular in the UK for adults aged between 16 and 24. 

It was part of a wider crackdown on ‘anti-social behaviour’ announced by the PM on Monday, which took aim at a number of ‘public nuisances’, ranging from graffiti to those who are begging.

It is part of Sunak’s plan to recapture voters in the ‘Red Wall’ who on current polling look set to return to Labour, but to me it just shows he’s chasing cheap headlines over substance. 

Combating antisocial behaviour isn’t even part of his ‘five promises’, and if he wanted to make a real difference to people’s lives he’d focus on far bigger issues. 

What many may not know is that the supply and production of nitrous oxide for recreational use is already illegal in the UK, and has been for seven years.

By expanding the law to criminalise those who are in possession of the drug, Sunak is not only going against a number of experts, but in my view, going against simple common sense. 

If Sunak truly believes upgrading it to a class C drug, meaning potential prison time or unlimited fines for possession, is going to make people feel safer and reduce anti-social behaviour he’s either a liar or delusional.

By making this mission his latest headline grabbing distraction it becomes clear to me that Rishi Sunak, the ‘dishy’ former chancellor who was lauded as the hero of furlough and Eat Out to Help Out, doesn’t actually care about the welfare of British citizens, and has no real intention of getting drugs off our streets.

I would have hoped that Labour would show some common sense and speak out about how banal this plan is but I momentarily forgot how utterly useless Keir Starmer is. 

I was disappointed, to say the least, that Labour is not only backing the ban, but they agreed with the language that Nos is a blight on communities. Starmer is so desperate to appear ‘tough on crime’ that he’ll back the government even on a stupid policy such as this. 

Michael Gove said that antisocial behaviour associated with nitrous oxide is ‘not a minor crime’ 

But can we trust that? Is it borne out by evidence? Recreational use of laughing gas does cause problems, but I certainly haven’t heard reports of criminal Nos gangs wreaking havoc on communities, or Nos addicts robbing grannies to get their next hit. 

If the government has evidence of Nos driving crime, they should produce it, rather than this window dressing. 

There isn’t any real need for a deep dive into why Nos is popular with younger people – it’s cheap, gives users a swift high with its effects normally expiring in seconds before returning them swiftly back to a normal state. 

Now, I’m not promoting laughing gas as a good thing by any means – there are concerns over overuse and addiction.

But compared to other substances, both legal and illegal, it should be way down the list of priorities when it comes to dangers to the public.

For example, in 2019 alone, over 60,000 people in England and Wales died of smoking-related causes. The same year, eight deaths were attributed to the use of nitrous oxide. 

I can’t help but feel as though Sunak’s war on ‘hippy crack’ is because he can use it to get middle class or older voters angry about what’s going on in the streets, rather than bigger issues, or even other drugs. 

If you look at cocaine, for example, we know use of the drug among the middle-class is soaring, and the demand for the substance fuels the violence of county lines gangs, which are ravaging the lives of young men and women across the country.

With 11 out of 12 bathrooms in the Houses of Parliament having tested positive for cocaine, you would think politicians like Sunak would focus more on a Class A drug that appears to be right under their nose. 

Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, also claimed that the litter caused by laughing gas was a key factor in the crackdown, but why aren’t we outlawing cigarettes, which, according to research, makes up 68% of all littered items in England.

Braverman also mentioned youths ‘loitering in parks’ in her speech, which just shows how fundamentally silly this policy is. 

When I was a teen we hung out in parks because we liked using parks as recreational areas, you know, because that’s what they were designed for. 

Of course I won’t deny that once we discovered the joy of cheap yet potent cider, parks became a safe haven to temporarily house us for a few hours of drinking away from adult eyes – but I guess Braverman won’t be going after booze next. 

Personally I don’t believe Sunak is truly serious about attempting to smash crime gangs or get drugs off the streets because that would require time, money, and actually listening to the experts. 

He’s not looking at what causes someone to use drugs, or making drug-rehab centres more accessible to people because he simply wants to chase a cheap headline. 

And don’t just take my word for it – experts at the Drug Science Scientific Committee said a ‘blanket ban is completely disproportionate’ and ‘would likely deliver more harm than good.’

The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs backed this up, finding in its review ‘no substantive evidence of links between nitrous oxide and anti-social behaviour’ aside from littering.

We can all agree littering is a problem, but is it really worth focusing on when food inflation is up 17.5%, only around 1% of reported rapes resulting in charges, our police forces are in special measures, and the cost-of-living crisis is still hitting our pockets?. 

Tackling nuisances like canisters on the ground, rather than the stuff that does real damage, like alcohol addiction or class A drugs, seems an easy way for Sunak and the Tories to fool the public into thinking our government is doing something to improve our lives and protect us.

Laughing gas is clearly not the big bad evil Sunak wants us to believe that it is, according to the experts, but the PM is using it to try and garner favour with the type of voters he feels he needs to impress to try and turn round his current polling position. 

And if it pays off for the Tories it will be them who have the last laugh.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing jess.austin@metro.co.uk. 

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