NORTH DAKOTA ( KXNET ) — A new way for kids to get a quick high is misusing laughing gas, and it’s something parents need to be on the lookout for.

Galaxy Gas is a company that sells products with nitrous oxide — the laughing gas — for people to buy and misuse.

However, the company says these products are whipped cream chargers, which are solely intended to be used in the culinary world for cold brew coffees, desserts, sauces, and more.

It’s a nitrous oxide-filled, stainless-steel cartridge that helps creams and other ingredients transform into a whipped state. But when used without food, it just emits nitrous oxide.

According to Dr. Gail Saltz, the misuse isn’t new.

In medical settings, the purpose is to help patients relax for dental procedures.

Knowing that, Saltz said, “It’s usually administered as a combination of oxygen with nitrous oxide, not pure nitrous oxide, and regulated under a setting. It’s administered in a slow form … so it’s not obliterating the oxygen supply you would otherwise get. And it’s also not a rush of it.”

The inhalation of quick blasts of pure nitrous oxide replaces the oxygen intake, leading to unconsciousness, heart attack, feeling ill, loss of coordination, headaches, nausea, vomiting, and seizures.

Other more serious risks can be brain damage, anemia, nerve damage, paralysis, vitamin B12 deficiency, and nitrous oxide dependency.

The misuse of nitrous oxide can be fatal.

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