Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of criminalising the use of nitrous oxide on the levels of use of that substance.

Nitrous oxide misuse is a persistent blight on our public spaces with groups of young people littering local parks with empty canisters. It is the third most used drug amongst young people. It has psychoactive effects, and there are also reported links with drug driving as well as neurological harms. This is why the Government made a decision to control it as a Class C drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.

Before bringing forward legislation to control nitrous oxide as a Class C drug the Government will conduct a full Impact Assessment, which will include consideration of the impact control will have on levels of nitrous oxide misuse.

The Government conducted an early assessment of the potential impacts of controlling nitrous oxide as part of its decision-making process. This assessment included an assumption that prevalence may decrease following control under the 1971 Act.