Inside deadly ‘Whippets' epidemic which leaves victims brain damaged and incontinent… as dangerous craze spreads to UK
Known as whippets, canisters of nitrous oxide can legally be bought in shops - and in many states, children are able to buy the poisonous gas.
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Online clips show US teens inhaling Galaxy Gas at school
Credit: Instagram
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Rachel Kelly, from Chicago, Illinois, was left with brain damage after she inhaled nitrous oxide straight out of the canister every day
Credit: Kennedy Newsand Media
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Jordan Micu, from North Carolina, suffered seizures and learned to walk again after she got hooked on laughing gas
Credit: Kennedy News
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Possession of nitrous oxide became a criminal offence in the UK in 2023
Credit: Getty
Nitrous oxide - also known as NOS - is most commonly inhaled via a balloon, but youngsters are now buying flavoured whipped cream canisters and inhaling them directly from the nozzle.
Rather than 8g metal canisters littering the streets, whopping cans contain as much of 2kg of gas - meaning users can inhale massive quantities.
The most notorious brand in the US is Galaxy Gas - which comes in child-friendly flavours such as mango smoothie, blueberry, strawberry cream and vanilla cupcake - similar to the marketing of disposable vapes.
It became wildly popular among American teens, peaking last year when it was widely glorified in rap videos and social media clips.
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Footage of a user inhaling Galaxy Gas racked up 40million views - and inspired countless copycats.
A viral song titled "Whippets" is available to watch on YouTube - showing youngsters bragging about their use of Galaxy Gas and repeatedly inhaling from the huge canisters.
Although the canisters are intended for food use, guests have also tried it on the Joe Rogan podcast and Kanye West has spoken about his addiction to the substance.
After furious backlash, the brand has withdrawn its products from the market and is now only available from a very limited selection of stores - but others are replacing it.
In 2023, the UK government made nitrous oxide a Class C drug - but it's mostly failed to rid the streets of discarded metallic canisters.
Balloon-huffing revellers still openly inhale at festivals, parties and in the streets.
Laughing gas 'epidemic' sweeping party island with tourists left foaming at mouth, having seizures & permanently scarred
In serious cases, users have become heavily addicted to the high and left needing rehab or hospital treatment after racing through as many as 15 canisters per day.
But in the US, possession of nitrous oxide is legal - and authorities are struggling to crack down on the deadly craze.
Between 2023 and 2024, there was a 58 per cent surge in reports of exposure to nitrous oxide in America according to official data.
The number of deaths from nitrous oxide also rose by a staggering 110 per cent from 2019 to 2023.
Rachel Kelly, from Chicago, inhaled so much nitrous oxide straight out of the canister every day that parts of her brain died and she was left in a wheelchair.
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Rachel Kelly forked out $220 every day to inhale eight two-litre tanks of 'whippets'
Credit: Kennedy Newsand Media
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Barmaid Rachel was left in a wheelchair from her laughing gas addiction
Credit: Kennedy Newsand Media
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Whippets can easily be bought in shops - with authorities struggling to crack down on the craze
Credit: FOX29
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Videos of teens inhaling Galaxy Gas are viewed by millions of children online
Credit: Getty
She first tried the substance aged 21 and by 2023 the 29-year-old was paying $220 a day to inhale eight two-litre tanks.
Rachel said "everyone" was using the drug and it was easy to buy at a local convenience store.
But her habit left her in hospital unable to go to the toilet or walk on her own - forcing her to spend a month in a rehabilitation centre.
Jordan Micu, 30, from North Carolina, was also left suffering seizures after getting hooked on the canisters as a 21-year-old college student.
They're obviously being marketed to appeal for young people and not for its intended use
Fiona Spargo-Mabbs
In the US, shops often offer deals and colourful canisters can easily be found in smoke shops - despite their intended use for food production.
Imyouski, 22, told GQ: "It's like an epidemic, all the young folks are on them.
"It's too obtainable, I could literally drive down the street right now and go grab me how many I want."
And in the UK, canisters are also widely available to purchase online.
A range of brands have emerged with similar whacky flavours and bright marketing available online in the UK.
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Baking Bad offers four different whacky flavours in vivid colours
Credit: Baking Bad
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Miami Magic also has sweet flavours and graphic marketing - like Galaxy Gas
Credit: Miami Magic
"Baking Bad" and "Miami Magic", both cream charger brands available online in the UK, have recently released new flavoured ranges.
Baking Bad offers candy, strawberry, blueberry mango and watermelon lemon flavoured gas.
Miami Magic, meanwhile, boasts rainbow, watermelon, blue raspberry and strawberry guava editions.
The fruit combo flavours in particular are similar to many vapes that have hit the market in recent years.
Fiona Spargo-Mabbs OBE, founder and director of drugs education charity the DSM foundation, told The Sun: "I googled nitrous oxide in the UK and it came up with a whole load of places you can buy it.
"These social media trends or videos that go viral and are seen by loads of people.
"It's a concern, it's always a concern. They're being marketed with cartoon characters, GTA imaging on the outside of canisters.
"They're obviously being marketed to appeal for young people and not for its intended use."
I think young people just see it as a bit of fun at first but then use it for self-medication for depression and anxiety
Dan Gibbons
Fiona, a member of the government's advisory council on the misuse of drugs, added: "Things that come from the states and social media, there can be so many influences in terms of the decisions young people make.
"The exposure that young people have to drugs on social media is something I am concerned about."
Dan Gibbons, from UK-based solvent abuse charity Re-Solv, told The Sun: "Galaxy Gas has not come across our radar as much in the UK but you can get it here.
"I think young people just see it as a bit of fun at first but then use it for self-medication for depression and anxiety."
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Meg Caldwell died in her car after getting hook on laughing gas
Credit: NEWS 6
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Canisters are widely available in smoke shops in America - making it easily accessible
Credit: FOX29
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Galaxy Gas has become a popular method to inhale nitrous oxide in the US
Credit: Instagram
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Galaxy Gas is sold in child-friendly flavours like Mango Smoothie
He said he wouldn't be surprised if the huge canisters start to make an appearance at British festivals after being heavily promoted online in the US.
Dan says Re-Solve has even seen an increase in referrals for laughing gas addiction since the government ban was imposed.
Dr Gail Saltz told us: "There are teens who have suffered permanent neurological loss as a result of this behaviour.
"And it certainly can kill you."
The doctor explained that inhaling the gas can lead to a range of very serious medical problems - and even death in the most severe cases.
She explained: "When you inhale high pressure nitrous oxide, you are not getting any oxygen to the brain - so that's oxygen depravation.
"And that can cause a heart attack, a stroke, injury to the brain.
"More persistent use can lead to other issues such as B12 deficiency, anaemia, and other neurological problems."
Meg Caldwell, a horse rider from Florida, started using nitrous oxide recreationally while at university.
But her usage got heavier to the point it "started ruining her life".
After an overdose, Meg, 29, temporarily lost use of her legs and was left incontinent, but carried on spending hundreds of dollars a day on the gas.
She died in November last year in a car park outside a vape shop.
Her sister Leigh Caldwell told Boston 25: "She would spend $300, $400 at a smoke shop in a day.
"Her whole life had become derailed due to her addiction to this drug."
Another sister, Kathleen Dial, told the BBC: "She didn't think that it would hurt her because she was buying it in the smoke shop, so she thought she was using this substance legally."
Meg's family has now filed a lawsuit against the manufacturers of nitrous oxide and seven Florida smoke shops to stop retail sales of the drug.
Galaxy Gas is named in the lawsuit.
Drug addiction counsellor Kim Castro said that she's had four clients who have died from nitrous oxide poisoning.
She told Boston 25: "You really don't know when you'll stop breathing, when you'll lose consciousness, when your body will stop functioning. It's pretty scary."
In March, the FDA released a warning advising consumers not to inhale nitrous oxide products, including Galaxy Gas and other brands.
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Discarded canisters of nitrous oxide piled up at Glastonbury festival at Worthy Farm
Credit: AFP
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In the UK, nitrous oxide is commonly used by inhaling balloons filled with small metal cartridges
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Recreational nitrous oxide has been banned in the UK
Credit: Instagram
Dr Saltz said that sucking laughing gas to get high is not a new phenomenon, but there's been a surge in the past three to five years thanks to a "new twist" in the market.
She said: "The new addition in recent years is flavours, which has made it more appealing to younger and younger people.
"It seems like it's being literally marketed to this group of people. It makes it seem not dangerous and more innocuous."
The doc agrees that social media has supercharged the spread of the drug amongst youngsters - allowing it to be glorified, but also popularising "challenges" involving the gas.
She also warned of the danger of "copycat companies" who have "caught onto the fact that young people will buy this and use it for abuse".
The doctor insisted there are some obvious ways to fight back against the gas falling into teens' hands.
She said: "Selling to underage individuals is something that is frequently abused - and that of course shouldn't be happening.
"We should be putting more warnings on the packaging so that the adult who is buying it is warned - because they may not realise what their teen is actually asking for.
"And I wish that the companies would not be able to market to young people.
"Once you've identified something as used for abuse, governments should have the ability to say to a company: 'This is what you can do, this is what you can't do.' For the greater societal good."
Dr Saltz also explained that laughing gas is "easier to hide than abuse of many other things".
She said: "It has no smell, it seems innocuous because it can be used for food preparation. It's not expensive, and the high is short."
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Daily Mirror
33 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Dietitian shares one thing you should never do when your child refuses to eat
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The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
I thought we'd entered the age of body positivity. Then came ‘shrinking girl summer' – is everyone getting smaller except me?
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'I just … ' I say between sobs. He nods as I finish my sentence '… wish it were me.' You'd be forgiven for finding this melodramatic. But at 37, I can count on one hand the years I have spent free from anxiety about the shape and size of my body – and two of them I spent pregnant. The rest of my time on the planet has involved either outright hating my body or – more recently, in the shadow of the body positivity movement – trying to accept and maybe even love it. But something is changing. Gone are the days when there was a deluge of messaging that told us to love our bodies no matter their size. When brands were falling over themselves in the who-can-shout-self-love-the-loudest Olympics. When Vogue, once a shrine to the skinny, declared three plus-size women were the new supers and plastered them on the cover. Instead, in a change I'd never have believed possible just two years ago, we have somehow been thrust back into a noughties-level skinny worship culture that is bringing up the same feelings I've been running from since I was a girl. If first there was Hot Girl Summer, then Brat Summer, I reckon we are now living through Shrinking Girl Summer. I say this with no judgment or malice, but simply to hold up a mirror to a pervasive trend. Quietly, everyone seems to have been getting smaller and smaller. For Alex Light, a British body-positive influencer, things had started to change even before the arrival on the mass market in the UK and US of GLP-1 agonist drugs used exclusively, via prescription, for weight loss (before this they were used mainly to treat symptoms of type-2 diabetes, including obesity). 'For a while there were subtle signs,' Light says. 'Fewer size-inclusive launches, less campaign imagery, more brands quietly reducing size ranges and a shift in which kinds of bodies were getting visibility and praise … but weight-loss drugs have made this shift impossible to ignore.' The signs are everywhere. Dozens of A-list women who were once (intentionally or not) symbols of what it means to rebel against diet culture are now changing shape dramatically. First Adele. Then Rebel Wilson. Lizzo. Meghan Trainor. Kelly Clarkson. Serena Williams. Mindy Kaling. And although some of these attribute their weight loss to strict diet and exercise, others are openly using the jabs: plenty of once overweight A-listers have been explicit about how much they've benefited from using the jabs, with Robbie Williams calling them a 'Christmas miracle' in a 2023 interview. Others, such as Queer Eye's Jonathan Van Ness and Oprah Winfrey, have spoken openly about their use – not, they say, in the pursuit of skinniness, but to get to what they feel is a healthier, more comfortable weight. Given this is such a personal and emotive subject for many, it is obvious the reasons for using these drugs to slim down aren't always black and white. But it is also clear there's a grey area between 'feeling fat' and being fat. And with stories of already-slim fashion editors queueing up to microdose the drugs in the run-up to fashion week, and celebrities using them to maintain skinny physiques, it's almost impossible to find an exit to the moral maze of who should use them and how. What is increasingly evident is that the lessons we've been taught in the past 10 years – you can be healthy in a bigger body, and some bodies are genetically meant to be larger – are being replaced with the old-fashioned idea that health equates with thinness. Over on TikTok, the SkinnyTok hashtag – on content praising thinness and starvation in the pursuit of it – was banned in June because of a surge in its popularity and glamorisation of disordered eating. Coupled with a return of a familiar prejudice that fat people are just lazy and greedy – a problem that needs solving, for the sake of the NHS – it feels bleaker than it has for a long time to be overweight. As a perennially plus-size woman, I am happy for anyone who manages to lose weight and keep it off. But, yes, I am also consumed with a furious jealousy, because I wish it were me. And it almost was – because I am not simply an observer of this sudden collective sprint towards thinness, but someone who actively tried to participate in it. Reader: I took the drugs, too. My experience with being bigger than I ought to be started as a child. I cannot say for sure when I was first made aware of my 'problem', but by the age of 10 I could confidently tell you how many calories were in a slice of Hovis versus Sainsbury's own bread, and was a whiz at inputting my school dinners into the Weight Watchers calculator I carried around in my pocket. My memory is hazy about precisely when the weight-loss conversation was first opened with me, but I know it has never been closed. The word 'conversation' is a stretch, given it has generally travelled in one direction only: towards me. The usual protocol is me receiving opinions about my body from people who, in either a personal or professional capacity, ask if I've ever considered losing weight, before gently suggesting I might want to, or demanding I do. This will come with recommendations to try this one thing this thin person determines is the reason for their svelte physique, never admitting their genes might have something to do with it. 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Where once my internalised fatphobia had prevented me from believing fat people could be attractive, now seeing gorgeous curvy women in ads and on catwalks stretched my own definition of beauty to include people in bigger bodies. Another is that I fell in love with exercise, once it stopped being something gatekept by the skinny and muscular – with special admission granted for fat people only if they were explicitly trying to become thin. Instead it became much more common to see women above a size eight enjoy exercise for the sake of exercise – in my case, kickboxing, running and swimming. The last big shift was that, for the first time in my life, I was able to believe that, despite my inability to be thin, I was deserving of real and unconditional love, which allowed me to crack open a little door just enough to let a person enter who would become my husband and the father of my children. I am much more able to accept my body's appearance than I ever was before I met him. When GLP-1 agonists first came along, I instinctively felt afraid. And curious. Afraid because when Meghan Trainor was singing about how it's all about that bass and Lizzo was casting only plus-size dancers for her tours, I had allowed myself to imagine a future in which the issue of weight wouldn't be such a big deal. Curious because, well … I wondered if the drugs could help me. After having my second baby last summer, I gained weight. I was exhausted, moving less, eating more, and I felt out of control. So when articles started appearing around Christmas about how easy the injections were, how much weight you could lose and how few side-effects they produced, an idea started to form in my mind: maybe they could be the thing that slammed the door shut on conversations about my weight once and for all, and cut out the dreaded 'food noise' – a near-constant barrage of thoughts about food, even when not physically hungry, that had an obsessive grip on my psyche. The idea of removing that from my life wasn't just tantalising, but almost unthinkable. Imagine what I could do with all that extra brain space. I took the agonists and they worked – almost too well. I lost my entire appetite and about 15kg in a scarily fast time. Simultaneously, I experienced a resurgence of crippling anxiety (a known side-effect of Wegovy), leaving me foggy-headed, sweating profusely, sleepless and unable to think rationally or be fully present with my tiny children. It was truly miserable for me and my partner, who found it heartbreaking to see his formerly happy and engaged wife spiral back into the postnatal obsessive compulsive disorder we had both worked so hard to help me recover from after our first son's birth. Sign up to Inside Saturday The only way to get a look behind the scenes of the Saturday magazine. Sign up to get the inside story from our top writers as well as all the must-read articles and columns, delivered to your inbox every weekend. after newsletter promotion Not for the first time in my life, the choice of being thin and mentally unwell, or overweight and mostly contented, presented itself. There was only one viable answer: I needed to be well for my children, and if that meant mostly tolerating body dissatisfaction, then better the devil you know, right? The online company that had prescribed me the drugs with an eerie lack of checks and balances was stumped when I reported my side-effects, and told me to stop taking them. By this point I was so desperate to feel like myself again that the 3kg I regained pretty quickly, simply by eating more than nothing at all, barely registered. But as I felt more and more like myself, a new, almost grief-like feeling settled in the pit of my stomach; I felt defeated. The life raft on which I had pinned all my hopes of saving myself from a life of body hatred had arrived, and I had fallen spectacularly off it. It confirmed that the chronic lack of self-esteem I knew was likely the underlying cause of my mental health issues wasn't ever going to be magically solved. And that I would probably never be free of a life spent oscillating wildly between two extremes: happy or thin. You may be wondering where this all leaves me. Like many others, I suspect, it's extremely complicated. Do I, an obese person, wish I could tolerate the drugs better and lose a phenomenal amount of weight like seemingly everyone else has? Yes! Do I feel foolish for believing this one thing might solve all my problems? Absolutely. But there's another niggling sense, too: a feeling that I have been lied to, tricked into hoping an alternative world could exist in which people were more accepting of each other's bodies. I felt foolish for not recognising that what I will now refer to as fat-washing had only served one purpose: to make companies more money. I feel disappointed that the same people who told me I was beautiful despite my size have jumped at the first chance to be thin – and it makes me question their past sincerity. As Light says, 'When a creator builds a platform based on inclusivity and body acceptance, their followers see that as a safe space. When that same creator's body visibly changes, it can feel like a betrayal.' This has made me question my own integrity. I was out there spreading the good word of self-acceptance, too. Did I really believe what I was saying? I certainly wanted it to be true, and hoped it would be for others, and maybe that's the same thing. But I know if I had the opportunity to be thin, even if it meant upsetting others, I'd say yes, every single time, because I'm so bone-achingly tired of the feeling of not-enoughness (or too-muchness) that has lingered since I was a girl. Siobhan Murphy, a plus-size influencer whose @ interiorcurve socials focus on fashion and interiors, knows this predicament well. She was 'so nervous' to share her use of Mounjaro, a GLP-1 agonist, because she's 'always been a loud and proud advocate' for plus-size women. 'I worried people might feel let down or think I'd changed sides,' she says. 'But this wasn't about how I looked – I've always loved my body. It was about how I felt in it. My back kept bothering me, my knees were aching, my skin was dull, my eyes puffy … I made the decision to prioritise my health, and I'm glad I did.' Despite her apprehension, Murphy's followers 'have been incredibly kind and understanding. I think many were just happy I was transparent. There's such secrecy around this topic.' In an online environment, a lack of trust can quickly morph into something more sinister, encouraging people to look at everyone and wonder if they're on it, too, in a weird cat-and-mouse game that breathes life into an old habit of commenting on women's bodies that, as a society, we've fought to move on from. And as someone who's been round the block when it comes to weight gain and loss, body dysmorphia and the rest, I can tell you nothing makes you feel worse about yourself than scrutinising the appearance of others. As I scroll Instagram, seeing Shrinking Girl Summer in full bloom, I can't help but pine for what could have been: a smaller body and what I assume would be an easier existence than one spent feeling the need to justify and defend myself all the time. But I find reasons to be hopeful when I see new body positivity pioneers pushing back against this fresh era of fatphobia. Women such as Lena Dunham, Meg Stalter, CMAT and Lola Young, who are all having their moment in the sun, without feeling the need to shrink in order to do so. Murphy says she sees the community at a crossroads. 'A new wave of medical intervention is changing the conversation and it has raised many questions about what body positivity truly means. For me, it was never just about size – it's about acceptance and kindness toward yourself and others. Whether you stay the same size, gain weight or lose it, the core message should remain the same: your worth isn't defined by your body.' I am pretty committed to losing some weight; not a lot, but some. More than anything because I want to feel better in my body. My pursuit of being smaller is not motivated by a belief that being big and being beautiful are mutually exclusive. Maybe it will always be something I can appreciate as being true for others rather than myself, but in the meantime, I'll do all I can to embed in my children's own programming the notion that their weight really is the least interesting thing about them. If there's one thing I've learned from having kids, it's that the best way to teach them something is to embody it. I've never felt a stronger urge to step away from the scroll hole and build more solid self-esteem from the inside out. Maybe I'll never learn to love my body fully, but that doesn't mean I'll give up trying. This article was amended on 11 August 2025 to clarify that while drugs like Mounjaro have inhibitory qualities, GLP-1 drugs are more accurately called agonists, not inhibitors.
Scottish Sun
4 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Cancer could be diagnosed from the sound of your VOICE ‘within years'
Anyone with a hoarse voice is already told to visit the GP LISTEN UP Cancer could be diagnosed from the sound of your VOICE 'within years' Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) THE early signs of cancer could be detected by listening to a patient's voice, scientists say. Using AI, subtle changes in the acoustics of a person's voice helped pick up lesions in people diagnosed with voice box cancer. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 2 The sound of your voice could indicate whether you have signs of cancer Credit: Getty Researchers believe AI could be trained to hear these changes within a "couple of years'. There are around 2,000 new cases of voice box (laryngeal) cancer in the UK each year. A hoarse voice for more than three weeks can be a key symptom, and should be investigated by a GP. Using AI for diagnosis could spell the end of uncomfortable tests currently used, such as a biopsy or nasendoscopy, in which a thin tube with a video camera is passed through the nose down the back of the throat. The American team, part of the 'Bridge2AI-Voice' project, gathered voice recordings of 300 patients, some of whom had voice box cancer. They studied at least six features of voice acoustics: the mean fundamental frequency (pitch); jitter, variation in pitch within speech; shimmer, variation of the amplitude; and the harmonic-to-noise ratio. There were "marked" differences between men with and without cancer or a voice box disorder, such as nodules or polyps, specifically the harmonic-to-noise ratio, according to the findings published in the journal Frontiers in Digital Health. It's possible the same will be found for women with a larger dataset. One of the study's authors, Dr Phillip Jenkins, of Oregon Health & Science University, said: "To move from this study to an AI tool that recognises vocal fold lesions, we would train models using an even larger dataset of voice recordings, labelled by professionals. "We then need to test the system to make sure it works equally well for women and men. BBC Gardeners world fans in tears as star reveals terminal cancer diagnosis during show "Voice-based health tools are already being piloted. "I estimate that with larger datasets and clinical validation, similar tools to detect vocal fold lesions might enter pilot testing in the next couple of years." 2 Voice box cancer, or laryngeal cancer, causes voice hoarseness, pain swallowing, or difficulty swallowing, shortness of breath and weight loss Credit: Getty The symptoms of voice box cancer Cancer Research UK have said there are four key symptoms of laryngeal cancer to look out for: 1. Hoarseness or a change in your voice If you have a hoarse voice for more than 3 weeks, it could be a sign of laryngeal cancer, says Cancer Research UK. It's worth seeing a doctor for a full check up and diagnosis, as inflammation of the larynx can also be caused by a cold, a chest infection and overuse of the voice, like singing. 2. Pain or difficulty swallowing If you're experiencing pain or having difficulty swallowing, it might be an indicator something is wrong. Visit your GP if for three weeks or more, you feel: that there is something small stuck in your throat you are struggling to swallow food some pain or a burning sensation when swallowing food that your food is sticking in your throat 3. Shortness of breath Experiencing shortness of breath is a symptom that should trigger an urgent response. Call 999 if you suddenly experience shortness of breath or are struggling to breathe. Some people may also find they have a cough that doesn't go away, they find it difficult to breath or when they inhale it's become noisy (stridor). 4. Weight loss Sudden or dramatic weight loss is a key sign of cancer, including laryngeal. Usually it will happen alongside other symptoms and the body's way of communicating that there is a problem. It may also happen because you're eating less due to pain or because you're having difficulty swallowing. You should see your doctor if you have lost 4 to 5 kg (10lbs) or more in a short time.
