Move to ban laughing gas at Bristol clubs

It’s probably not the first time a councillor has brought a bag of legal highs into a council meeting.

But Ron Stone, 72, succeeded in livening things up when he poured his nitrous oxide canisters out onto his desk during a six-hour marathon session.

The Labour councillor for St George West was making his mark on a licensing policy debate in which he claimed Bristol could take a lead by banning the legal high in clubs.

Stone said he was working with council officers to draw up new rules which could see clubs lose their licences if they are found allowing laughing gas to be distributed.

The city council has since told Bristol24/7 that it is “exploring opportunities”. But in its statement it also said the drug was relatively safe “in comparison with other substances”.

Clubs across the city regularly allow the tiny canisters, also sold legitimately on the high street as charges for whipped cream dispensers, to be used to fill balloons with so-called laughing gas, or ‘hippy crack’.

Standing up to address all councillors at a meeting of full council on Tuesday, Stone poured the metal charges out onto his table below his microphone before dropping one at a time each time for each point he made.

He said children as young as nine were using balloons bought on high streets, while clubbers were being left inebriated, wandering into roads after leaving clubs under the influence.

Stone told Bristol24/7 after the meeting that talks were in the early stages, but indications from the licencing department and legal services were positive about a possible club ban.

“I want Bristol to be the first to come up with a practical solution,” Stone said. “If we find it being sold we could stop it and suspend the licence with tighter rules.”

He added: “What I’m saying is, because of the dangers of this being used everywhere, we have to do something. These are mood-altering drugs and some people are getting so high they are wandering out into the road on the stuff.”

The Government has outlined a bill to ban legal highs capable of producing a “psychoactive effect”, which may include nitrous oxide.

Stone said he found the bag of nitrous oxide on a small patch of land in his ward, where increasing numbers of canisters were being left littering the area.

Hundreds of canisters were cleaned up from Queen Square at the weekend following the Harbour Festival, while hundreds were also seized in Eastville Park at Love Saves the Day earlier this year.

Daniella Radice, assistant mayor for neighbourhoods with responsibility for licensing and public health, released a statement through the council saying: “We are currently exploring opportunities within the current licensing legislation, which could allow us to consider conditions for preventing nitrous oxide (commonly known as ‘laughing gas’) being brought into licensed premises.

“Implementing such an approach would present difficulties, given that the products themselves are not illegal and legislation does not permit licensing authorities to consider public health implications when considering applications. 

“Using any stimulant, including alcohol, will always involve risks to health. The health risks from nitrous oxide occur because when a person inhales nitrous oxide they deprive themselves of oxygen. If this is done repeatedly, or for a long period, it can cause the oxygen levels in the body to fall too low. It must also be borne in mind that in comparison with other substances nitrous oxide is relatively safe.”