BY ANDREW TALIBA
The family of 18 year old Ally Calvert, who collapsed and died in the street of Bexley in Kent, after allegedly inhaling nitrous oxide or ‘laughing gas’, have strenuously denied that he died of laughing gas, contrary to press reports. Ally was on his way home from a friend’s birthday party, when he collapsed and later died after vain attempts to save his life by paramedics. His family insist his death was caused by a heart condition, though a recent post mortem has proved inconclusive.
It is believed Ally had inhaled laughing gas, also known as ‘the balloon’, and also had some alcohol in his system. The use of alcohol simultaneously with the inhaling of laughing gas is prevalent among several youths these days- a disturbing trend in need of urgent redress in society today. And the assertion by the deceased’s family today that a heart condition was the cause of his death does little to mitigate the level of contributory negligence on the young lad’s part if he actually inhaled laughing gas on the fateful day in question. The inconclusive finding by the post mortem only goes to show that there were likely other causes to his death besides the heart condition strongly claimed to be the causative factor in his untimely death. Just because an illness may have contributed to his death does not mean it was the only contributing factor. Understandably, the bereaved family would want to play down as much as possible the perception that his death was caused by laughing gas, even if only partially so. The fact remains that the level of negligence and imprudence often exhibited by youths who indulge in all sorts is deplorably high.
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SOCIAL MEDIA POST
In a widely shared post on social media, a relative wrote ” as a family we would like to express how overwhelmed we have been by the recent loss of Ally. We can now confirm that the use of balloons/nitrous oxide did NOT cause the death of our baby, as we originally knew anyway. Ally had an underlying heart condition which led to his passing. Unfortunately, regardless of where he was, or who he was at the time, his passing was inevitable and this is the facts. We would like everyone to share this to inform the world that Ally was not the party goer from South East London that died from hippy crack, but in fact a beautiful, charming, hilariously funny 18 year old baby that unfortunately passed away from an unexpected heart condition”.
The comments above does very little to disprove the role that may have been played by laughing gas in his death, and the word ‘underlying heart condition’ is key, because this implies that this the heart condition may not have been the main cause of his death. It is truly sad, especially if he was a funny hilarious guy and our condolences go to the friends and family of the teenage boy. However, it must be noted that the potential effects of laughing gas are never as funny as those who may take them, and its practice should be shunned.
EUPHORIA
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Used generally for its recreational euphoria, more and more young people appear to discover the strange pleasure from the gas sniffed from balloons. Now second only to cannabis, 400,000 16-24 year olds (7.6%) have been reported to take nitrous oxide in the last year. ‘Laughing gas’ is easily and cheaply accessible on the internet, at supermarkets, music festivals and clubs, and for many years not controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act.
There is now in the UK, a new blanket ban on legal highs, in the Psychoactive Substances Bill, which featured in the Queen’s speech. It carries a seven-year jail term for those selling so-called legal highs. While this is likely to push up the cost of nitrous oxide and exclude many young people, it may add ‘value’ and pull others, for its sheer potential scarcity.
Approximately 10cm long, silver or blue empty canisters of the nitrous oxide, commonly known as ‘hippie crack’ has been reported to be found everywhere in the estate where Ally lived, as in some other areas of the South East, such as in Stanford-le-hope, in Essex where I have observed them. The pertinent question therefore is not whether the youngster’s heart condition caused his death, but more importantly, whether he used laughing gas on the day in question, and whether on the scale of probability, laughing gas could have contributed to his death. If the latter answer is in the affirmative, then his death was caused by laughing gas, even if not that alone. Youngsters need to wake up and smell the coffee. Laughing gas is not funny, it is dangerous! Of course, people have different levels of tolerance to different things, but there can always be external factors that lead to an eventual mishap when using dangerous substances.
FASHIONABLE
The increasingly fashionable substance which regularly features as a legal party aid, decreases the oxygen in the brain and the blood-stream, which can lead to quickening heart-beat, sudden loss of blood pressure and cause fainting. The limbs may feel heavy and tingle, some headache, sometimes, cardiac arrest, as in the case of Ally Calvert. It is suggested that the risk of asphyxiation features especially if the gas is inhaled through a mask.
Ordinarily, the gas is used to numb pain during medical procedures, such as in dentistry, to increase power output in engines and for whipped cream aerosol cans in catering to prevent the cream going bad and in food packaging to prevent food from rotting. It was never intended for euphoria.
According to Julien Cohen, in his book, All About Drugs and Young People: Essential Information and Advice, ‘… These effects peak very quickly and then die away almost as fast. The whole experience may only last a couple of minutes, without repeating the dose.’
Cohen describes the effects as almost ‘…immediately, a rush of euphoria, burst out laughing and feel dizzy at the same time, experiencing a relaxed state. Sound is usually distorted and voices and music often heard as throbbing roar there may be some hallucinating effects, moving from bright dots to more detailed dreamscapes’. Wow! Parents need to have a heightened level of awareness about the sort of influences their children succumb to, and find a way to strongly impress on their kids the need not to emulate their ignorant peers who evidently lack foresight and wisdom because of their immaturity. This applies even to bright children, because bright children do foolish things sometimes especially where they have low self esteem due to other reasons.
SENSORY NEUROPATHIES
It is noteworthy that in a live interview on BBC 5, Jeremy Sare from the Angelus Foundation indicated that, ‘… There appeared to be few, if any short-term adverse effects, other than mild headaches for some individuals, long-term use can cause peripheral sensory neuropathies, vitamin deficiency and related anaemia as a result of the inactivation of vitamin B12 in the body by the gas’. It is suggested that death linked to nitrous oxide is rare: -15 deaths per year in the United States, 1 in the UK in 2011, 5 in 2010, and of course another here as mentioned above.
Prince Harry was alleged to have been seen indulging in ‘laughing gas’ two years ago; and earlier this month, Marnie Simpson the Geordie Shore star expressed deep regrets for inhaling laughing gas. She explained she wasn’t aware of the dangers.
If Marnie Simpson admitted to ignorance of the risks in inhaling nitrous oxide, then many young people are more likely to be ignorant. They need to understand the high price for their dreamscape. The government has at last risen to its responsibility. Legislation cannot be enough. Wide-ranging awareness strategies should be vigorously combined with law enforcement. No gas that is inhaled is funny at all!
