Police plea for restraint selling whipping cream chargers, which contain laughing gas

Caryn Wilkinson Reporter from Community News

Kumeu police are appealing to store owners to be socially responsible after reports of cream whipping devices being sold to youngsters.

A concerned resident alerted officers after she saw a Kumeu dairy owner allegedly selling whipping cream chargers, which contained laughing gas, to school children.

The complainant, the mother of a teenager, was frustrated by the incident, police said.

"The complainant had no doubt that the children were buying the product for inhalation and not for making cakes,"
Kumeu community constable Dimitry Pantileev said.

The charger was displayed at the front of the store by the Eftpos machine, he said.

Selling laughing gas, also known as NOS, nitrous oxide and nangs, for therapeutic purposes is banned under the Medicines Act 1981, which requires a prescription for the sale.

Using a cream dispenser or ‘’cracker’’, a small cannister filled with NOS, known as a cream charger, is released into a balloon, which is then inhaled for a short-lived but intense euphoric-like feeling.

However, the sale of the product within the food industry is legal, with nitrous oxide being used for cream whipping devices.

Under the current law, retailers selling the product must ensure it is not being used for therapeutical purposes, the Ministry of Health states.

Pantileev said shop owners should be socially responsible when it came to selling the chargers to children and should not display them in a prominent place.

".. we can only charge them if we can prove in court without reasonable doubt that the product they're selling is used for inhalation, " Pantileev said.

"It's possible but it's very difficult to prove that the person at the counter or the store owner had the knowledge that it was going to be inhaled."

Pantileev said perhaps it was time for a law change.

"On a broad spectrum, legislators need to look into that," he said.

"The desirable outcome is that the law change is implemented at least to forbid this product to be sold to minors and somehow to limit their display to the public."

A MOH spokeswoman in August said Medsafe had taken action in this area in the past and was currently investigating the issue.

“It is for the retailers to ensure they comply with the law and only supply products that could not be regarded as prescription medicines. Retailers should be aware of the potential for these products to be used for purposes that could constitute a therapeutic purpose. Having a means of ensuring customers had a legitimate purpose for purchasing the products would be wise.”

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