laughing gas

While alcohol remains the number one cause of addiction problems in Amsterdam,young adult residents of the capital are drinking less than they did in 2000. There are also fewer smokers, though cocaine use increased, according to the newest Antenna, an annual study by Jellinek and Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences into the alcohol and drug use of Amsterdam young adults, Het Parool reports.

The number of reports of health problems caused by laughing gas is increasing rapidly in the Netherlands, according to figures from the national poisoning information center NVIC. The center calls this a "worrying development". Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema is looking into measures to curb the sale of laughing gas on the city streets.

Burn centers in the Netherlands are concerned about an increasing number of patients coming to them with ice burns after using laughing gas. Over the past three weeks, 14 people were admitted with severe freezing burns on the inside of their thighs. In all patients, the injuries were caused by them clamping an ice-cold laughing gas tank between their legs while filling balloons, NOS reports.

Doctors at the Maxima Medical Center are using a different approach to calm kids down when they end up in the hospital's emergency room - nitrous oxide, better known as laughing gas. According to the hospital, it prevents these children suffering unnecessary pain and anxiety during treatment and also means that treatment can be done faster.