The LA Times has a write up today on the arrest of dealers selling (what in my youth we used to call) whippets, technically known as nitrous oxide.
I was surprised to see the highlight because it had never occurred to me that the USG was in the business of criminalizing air. I've never used illegal drugs and have no aspirations to do so-- the idea of taking any drug, let a substance from an unknown source-- seems dangerous. And the concept of recreational drugs, including alcohol, has limited appeal to me. I enjoy a drink a few times per year, but generally I'm happy enough without distorting my reality.
But in my younger days I did indulge in alcohol a bit more frequently than I do now. The only other brush with drug use I had was nitrous oxide, and only after I researched the matter and concluded that it was basically harmless. It is certainly far less troublesome than alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, or sugar. Several times in college I did inhale-- whippet balloons, enjoying a two to three minute rush from the indulgence. While popular belief at the time held "it killed more brain cells than a year of drinking" the Straight Dope debunked that theory years ago. At some point in my brief and only occasional nitrous inhaling (I recall doing it outside of concerts, more than anyplace else-- this was the era of when "The Spin Doctors" were dominating the charts-- we needed the help) the state I was living in made the sale of "crackers" illegal. Crackers were the devices used to manipulate nitrous tanks so that balloons could be filled-- at least, that's what I was told. I never actually saw one. But someone said that when one time, perhaps at a "Gin Blossoms" or some equally forgettable early-90s concert, we noticed there were no whippets around. But a neighboring state did still have whippets. Just like alcohol, nitrous was a state matter. I think perhaps my last foray into the world of nitrous oxide was at a "Peal Jam" concert in that less restrictive state in about 1996. Or maybe a can of whipped creme (another method of ingestion) around this same time.
It never crossed my mind that the Feds might get in the business of criminalizing the stuff. Regulation-- that I can see. I don't agree with the extension of the commerce clause to virtually everything, but I can understand why the argument might be made that whippets moved across state lines are subject to regulation. But why criminalize it? In addition to the USG lacking the authority, this seems like a silly drug to attack. For me it was the perfect non-gateway drug. I knew it was safe, I tried it, it was amusing, I moved on. I just didn't find it as amusing as I found other things. I don't play racquetball anymore for basically the same reason. Nitrous oxide is not addictive and the supposed deleterious effects outlined by the policy can be easily dismissed. It enables rapes? Very brief sexual assaults, perhaps, but one could say the same of any substance or activity that incapacitates a person momentarily. Shall we criminalized spinning in a circle and booming dizzy? It causes dealers to steal from one another? We should ban copper, gasoline, Tide detergent , and OJ Simpson football memorabilia-- all things subject to larceny. I heard some nutcase on the "Joe Rogan Experience" Podcast the other day rambling on about how he can get high from holding his breath (essentially the same idea as with nitrous). Should we restrict breath holding now?
Maybe I'm missing something here. I haven't researched nitrous since Midnight Oil was on top of the charts, but if that reading is still correct than this is a waste of time and an unjustified intrusion into personal liberty.
Let's move the funds for this program to the top of the sequestration list.