We were able to get illegal ‘fast gas’ drug delivered in Dublin within minutes using social media (2024)

There have been fresh calls for an urgent crackdown on nitrous oxide, the dangerous drug craze that is sweeping through Ireland.

Commonly known as laughing gas, fast gas or whippets, it has become an increasingly popular recreational drug among young adults and teenagers and is used to feel intoxicated or “high”. The gas is also used by some doctors and dentists for medical purposes.

It is illegal to sell nitrous oxide for human consumption and it is also illegal to consume it. However, the majority of young people using the drug obtain it through social media platforms where it can be purchased within minutes. Some pages have a phone number in their bio, while others ask you to send them a direct message.

The Sunday Times was yesterday able to secure a delivery of fast gas to a home address by a drug dealer within minutes of using a social media page.

One seller agreed to deliver a box of fast gas for €180, another said it could provide two canisters for €90, including delivery.

The drug, which is often inhaled via a balloon, interferes with vitamin B12 levels in the body and has been linked to cases of nerve damage to the spine, including paralysis. Hospitals have reported a rise in admissions of teenagers and young adults who have been using the gas.

Last week Facebook, Instagram and TikTok removed a number of pages selling “fast gas” from their platform after the content was reported by this newspaper. However, within hours of these pages being removed new ones had been created to take their place.

Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, said the buying and selling of drugs was strictly against its rules. “The content reported to us by The Sunday Times has been removed and we’ll continue to remove violating content relating to nitrous oxide, when it is reported to us,” a spokesperson said.

“We use a mix of technology and human review to remove this content as quickly as possible, and found 96 per cent of the drug sales content we removed between January and March before anyone reported it. We’re working with law enforcement and youth organisations to help support our community and keep drug sales off our platforms.”

TikTok confirmed it had also taken action against the content flagged and that the accounts had been banned for violating its community guidelines on drugs and controlled substances.

The Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland (ASAI) said it had not received any complaints about the advertising of nitrous oxide or fast gas on social media over the past year.

“While the ASAI will comment generally on the rules contained in the code, we generally don’t comment on the detail of any identified advertising if we have not assessed material or are not engaged in an investigation,” it said.

Mark Ward, a Sinn Fein TD who has been campaigning to reduce the availability of the drug, said that social media platforms needed to do better in regulating such content.

“There’s not enough regulation, there’s not enough legislation. This nitrous oxide can be bought legally to use in a commercial way in catering or the medical trade and there doesn’t seem to be any regulation whatsoever,” he said.

“A lot of parents were totally unaware of this drug. I’ve had parents contacting me in recent weeks only because it’s been in the media. They weren’t aware what they actually were.”

The HSE said it was providing a “targeted approach” to address the use of nitrous oxide.

It said: “An important goal for us is that parents are well-informed about nitrous oxide, and specific nitrous oxide information is available on drugs.ie and via a bespoke parent factsheet.”

Related articles