How 'hippy crack' became kids' drug of choice - and why it's fallen out of ... trends now
It was once loved by rebellious teenagers seeking a cheap, quick high, as well a swatch of famous faces and footballers.
But now nitrous oxide – sometimes called 'laughing gas', 'hippy crack' or 'nos' – is quickly going out of fashion. Usage rates have halved in the wake of the pandemic, official figures suggest.
The downturn comes amid a spate of deaths linked to the substance, sold in little silver cannisters that litter the streets, and typically inhaled though a balloon just like helium.
Business student Ellen Mercer, 24, from Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, became the latest confirmed casualty of nitrous oxide use. Yesterday an inquest heard how Ms Mercer, who died in hospital last February, was ordering huge bottles of the drug up to three times a day.
Some former addicts have shared how they went through up to 500 cannisters in a weekend, describing it as 'more addictive than cocaine'.
Coroner Heidi Connor listed 'long term complications due to nitrous oxide abuse' among the causes of Ellen Mercer's (pictured) death
As well as deaths, serious side effects including dizziness, weakness in the legs and impaired memory are thought to have discouraged today's kids from experimenting with nitrous oxide.
Hippy crack, which creates a temporary feeling of relaxation and euphoria, rose to modern notoriety in the early 2010s.
Balloon-wielding dealers cashed in on demand, partly fuelled by a glamorous array of celebs and footballers posting images of themselves apparently using it.
TOWIE'S Jessica Wright faced criticism for posting a picture of herself apparently using a hippy crack balloon in 2013.
Coronation Street actress Michelle Keegan was spotted taking the drug in 2012 at London's Anya nightclub as part of her 25th birthday celebrations.
Even Prince Harry who was seen indulging in nitrous oxide once at a charity fancy-dress party party in 2010 in the capital.
As recently as 2021, former Love Island start Jack Fincham was spotted seemingly inhaling hippy crack at a party with friends.
Manchester City's Jack Grealish and Chelsea's Raheem Sterling have also drawn criticism for taking hippy crack over the years.
TV star Trisha Goddard's daughter Billie Dee shared the impact of her massive nos addiction last year.
'It's more addictive than any other drug I'd known and I was taking one after the other after the other, sometimes doubling up with two canisters in one balloon. I'd spend all weekend in the flat, easily getting through 500 in two days,' she said.
'I wasn't looking after myself, not eating properly and even forgetting to drink water some days,' she says.
'I didn't even have the cognitive function to answer my phone.'
Another factor that experts believe fuelled its popularity is how cheap it is to buy, with cannisters of the gas sold online for as little as 20p each.
Each cannister is enough to fill a single balloon, though larger models can fill up to 80.
Balloons are then consumed in 'gulps' by either a single person or a group typically over a short period.
Billie Dee would turned to the cheapest way she knew to unwind – inhaling nitrous oxide, or 'nos', from balloons
While suppliers often mark this up to £5 or more per balloon at festivals and night clubs, it's still cheaper than a pint of beer in many parts of the country — let alone other recreational substances.
And the fact it also has a legitimate use in the food industry, as well as in medicine, meant it was relatively easier to get a supply than other, harder drugs.
However, hippy crack's time as a top drug among young people is over.
Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows just 4.2 per cent of 16-to-24 years olds, equivalent to about 250,000 people, used nitrous oxide between 2022-23.
While this still puts nitrous oxide well above the likes of ketamine, LSD and ecstasy (3.8, 1.5 and 2.4 per cent, respectively), it is a 54 per cent decline on previous figure.
Almost one in 10 (8.7 per cent) or about 500,000 young people used nitrous oxide in 2019-20, the most recent year of data unaffected by the Covid pandemic.
Cocaine has seemingly overtaken hippy crack in popularity among Gen Z, with nos now in third place.
Just over one in 20 youngsters (5.1) consumed cocaine within the last year.
Cannabis remains the most popular drug overall among young people, a position it
