THE NUMBER OF people presenting for treatment for nitrous oxide misuse has more than doubled since 2022.

Recreational use of nitrous oxide, which has surged in recent years, involves discharging gas from the canisters into a balloon before inhaling.

While the high from inhaling nitrous oxide is short-lived – lasting only for up to a minute – it can be detrimental to health.

Its usual effects can include dissociation and giddiness, while for some, headaches, dizziness or nausea.

But it can also cause devastating frostbite burns, as well as the potential for paralysis and suffocation.

The HSE’s National Drugs Treatment Reporting System started recording nitrous oxide misuse presentations to addiction treatment services in 2022.

In 2022, there were 30 incidents of problematic use of nitrous oxide being recorded either as a main problem drug or as an additional problem drug.

This jumped to 54 the following year in 2023, and rose slightly to 56 in 2024.

However, there was yet another marked jump last year, when 69 addiction treatment cases recorded problem use of nitrous oxide, a 130% since 2022.

Of the 209 treatment cases in total between 2022 and 2025, those aged under 18 accounted for 119 of these, or 57%.

The figures were provided to Sinn Féin TD Mark Ward on foot of a parliamentary question.

In a statement, Ward said he has been “raising nitrous oxide misuse since 2020”.

“We have seen the evidence for ourselves,” said Ward, “with the number of discarded canisters, first the small silver bullets, and then the large industrial-sized canisters, increase in our parks on our streets.”

The Journal Investigates recently found that over 160,000 discarded nitrous oxide canisters are ending up in waste facilities every year in Ireland.

He also remarked that the “gas can have long-term impacts on children who misuse it”.

“We have seen reports and studies showing an increase in the number of people with permanent damage from nitrous oxide misuse, including spinal cord and nerve damage, particularly young people,” said Ward.

Meanwhile, Ward noted that his parliamentary question to health minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill was actually related to the number of presentations to emergency departments with nitrous oxide related injuries.

This figure was not recorded and Ward remarked that he “expects this figure to be much higher than the data that is collected”.

“The government have not acted on this and it does not look like they will be any time soon,” added Ward.

“They clearly do not realise the issues that people are facing, but enough evidence is there.”

Ward added that the government has “voted to delay” on his proposed legislation to “regulate the sale of nitrous oxide” and that “Sinn Féin will continue to give this problem the attention that it deserves”.