Latest news with #MollyDay
Sydney Morning Herald
28-05-2025
- Health
- Sydney Morning Herald
The ‘toughest anti-nang laws in the country' only work if you enforce them
On the day then-health minister Amber-Jade Sanderson proclaimed a ban on 'nangs' last October, I walked into a convenience store and bought the illegal nitrous oxide gas canisters — no questions, no ID, no proof of purchase, no problem. Day one of the new regulations, fair enough, give them time, despite a promise to 'enforce compliance from today', having long sounded a warning the ban was coming. That was seven months ago. But this week, I walked into that same convenience store and tested their compliance as part of a 9News Perth investigation. Once again, no questions, no problems. Ten nangs for $10. Tobacconists and retailers in the Perth CBD and Northbridge are flagrantly flouting the law. And why wouldn't they, when the state government is not policing what it touted as the 'toughest laws in the country'. 9News Perth and WAtoday revealed this week that not a single fine has been issued by the Department of Health for the sale of nangs. It is difficult to believe, when any teenager — or at least anyone with a working debit card — can buy the popular and potentially deadly party gas in the ubiquitous corner stores or even online, delivered to your door in under 30 minutes, just like Uber Eats. Nangs give users a high when they inhale the gas. And they are popular; an ED doctor even told me during my investigation that he had used nangs. They can also cause seizures, heart attacks, psychosis, or irreversible neurological damage — like the case of Perth teenager Molly Day, who paid the price for the cheap thrill.
The Age
28-05-2025
- Health
- The Age
The ‘toughest anti-nang laws in the country' only work if you enforce them
On the day then-health minister Amber-Jade Sanderson proclaimed a ban on 'nangs' last October, I walked into a convenience store and bought the illegal nitrous oxide gas canisters — no questions, no ID, no proof of purchase, no problem. Day one of the new regulations, fair enough, give them time, despite a promise to 'enforce compliance from today', having long sounded a warning the ban was coming. That was seven months ago. But this week, I walked into that same convenience store and tested their compliance as part of a 9News Perth investigation. Once again, no questions, no problems. Ten nangs for $10. Tobacconists and retailers in the Perth CBD and Northbridge are flagrantly flouting the law. And why wouldn't they, when the state government is not policing what it touted as the 'toughest laws in the country'. 9News Perth and WAtoday revealed this week that not a single fine has been issued by the Department of Health for the sale of nangs. It is difficult to believe, when any teenager — or at least anyone with a working debit card — can buy the popular and potentially deadly party gas in the ubiquitous corner stores or even online, delivered to your door in under 30 minutes, just like Uber Eats. Nangs give users a high when they inhale the gas. And they are popular; an ED doctor even told me during my investigation that he had used nangs. They can also cause seizures, heart attacks, psychosis, or irreversible neurological damage — like the case of Perth teenager Molly Day, who paid the price for the cheap thrill.
The Age
26-05-2025
- Health
- The Age
Buying nangs in Perth is as easy as ordering UberEats despite tough new laws
Despite touting them as the toughest laws in the country, Western Australia's Department of Health has not issued a single fine to retailers selling potentially fatal nitrous oxide gas – also known as 'nangs' – more than six months after the new regulations were introduced. A 9News Perth investigation found the popular party gas remains readily available from corner stores in Perth's central business district, and from online distributors who deliver them door-to-door within 30 minutes. Nangs are a behind-the-counter drug that give a cheap high but starve the brain of oxygen, with users risking serious health issues such as permanent brain and spinal damage, seizures, psychosis and memory loss – including Perth teenager Molly Day. The state government restricted their sale in October, preluded by months of warnings, to food and beverage businesses to use them for baking. Giant 'jumbo' canisters with one or more litres of gas were outlawed entirely. Anyone caught unlawfully selling nitrous oxide faced fines of up to $30,000, including on-the-spot penalties of up to $6000. Amber-Jade Sanderson, the health minister at the time of the ban's introduction, declared there would be 'no grace period'. 'We will be enforcing compliance from today,' Sanderson said in October. 'We will do everything we can to protect children and young people from the dangers of nitrous oxide gas.' However, seven months later, 9News Perth was able to buy nangs from stores and order them through Uber Eats-style delivery drivers without needing to provide evidence they were for a registered food business, or even provide age identification.
Sydney Morning Herald
26-05-2025
- Health
- Sydney Morning Herald
Buying nangs in Perth is as easy as ordering UberEats despite tough new laws
Despite touting them as the toughest laws in the country, Western Australia's Department of Health has not issued a single fine to retailers selling potentially fatal nitrous oxide gas – also known as 'nangs' – more than six months after the new regulations were introduced. A 9News Perth investigation found the popular party gas remains readily available from corner stores in Perth's central business district, and from online distributors who deliver them door-to-door within 30 minutes. Nangs are a behind-the-counter drug that give a cheap high but starve the brain of oxygen, with users risking serious health issues such as permanent brain and spinal damage, seizures, psychosis and memory loss – including Perth teenager Molly Day. The state government restricted their sale in October, preluded by months of warnings, to food and beverage businesses to use them for baking. Giant 'jumbo' canisters with one or more litres of gas were outlawed entirely. Anyone caught unlawfully selling nitrous oxide faced fines of up to $30,000, including on-the-spot penalties of up to $6000. Amber-Jade Sanderson, the health minister at the time of the ban's introduction, declared there would be 'no grace period'. 'We will be enforcing compliance from today,' Sanderson said in October. 'We will do everything we can to protect children and young people from the dangers of nitrous oxide gas.' However, seven months later, 9News Perth was able to buy nangs from stores and order them through Uber Eats-style delivery drivers without needing to provide evidence they were for a registered food business, or even provide age identification.
