Orange County Bans Whippets

Orange County Supervisors are moving guardant with a caller instrumentality that bans the merchantability of nitrous oxide besides known arsenic “whippets” oregon “hippie crack” for cause usage successful unincorporated parts of the county.

On Tuesday, region officials voted unanimously to present the ordinance which makes the merchantability of the recreational inhalant a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months successful jailhouse oregon up to $1,000 successful fines with a fewer exceptions.

Supervisor Katrina Foley, who requested the prohibition astatine the extremity of past year, said there’s a loophole successful authorities instrumentality that allows fume shops and liquor store employees to merchantability whippets arsenic agelong arsenic they don’t inquire the purchaser if they program connected utilizing it to get high.

“Getting precocious connected nitrous volition stay arsenic convenient arsenic picking up a container of chips, and that’s the truth. While nary advancement has been made astatine the authorities oregon national level to adjacent this unsafe loophole, it’s clip that the County of Orange instrumentality action,” she said astatine Tuesday’s meeting.

[Read: Orange County Supervisors Look to Ban Whippets]

Foley’s petition comes aft she conducted a bid of panels past twelvemonth with nationalist wellness officials, section instrumentality enforcement, and authorities legislators to analyse cause usage and nitrous oxide – a sedative that tin cause nervus harm and psychosis. 

“During our October 2024 investigative proceeding connected substance maltreatment successful Orange County, we heard straight from region wellness officials, information professionals and authorities argumentation makers astir the alarming summation successful the usage of nitrous oxide,” Foley said. 

“It’s precise unsafe for quality ingestion unless it’s medically supervised. It tin suffocate your brain, origin superior neurological harm and adjacent pb to death.”

The ordinance includes exceptions for the merchantability of nitrous oxide for the usage successful cars, nutrient products and aesculapian oregon dental care.

Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said inhaling nitrous oxide for recreational cause usage is already a misdemeanor nether authorities law.

“What this ordinance would bash is it would empower your region counsel to enforce administratively successful the lawsuit that there’s an idiosyncratic that is distributing it for unlawful purposes,” helium said astatine Tuesday’s meeting.

“We are ready, consenting and capable to prosecute it arsenic a transgression enactment if it is made a misdemeanor.”

Hosam Elattar is simply a Voice of OC newsman and corps subordinate with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him astatine helattar@voiceofoc.org oregon connected Twitter @ElattarHosam.