site.btaAuthorities Consider Compiling Official List of Substances Hazardous to Health in Bid to Curb Laughing Gas Use

The Health Ministry is considering compiling an official list of substances hazardous to health after the example of other EU countries. The immediate objective is to limit the distribution and use of laughing gas and to make control of the substance more effective, Health Minister Galya Kondeva said during a parliamentary hearing on the distribution and use of laughing gas (nitrous oxide) among children. Interior Minister Kalin Stoyanov was also heard out on the topic. The procedure was proposed by Lena Borislavova MP (Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria) and other MPs.

Kondeva said that nitrous oxide is actively monitored by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, and if evidence of addiction becomes available, the substance will be placed under control by naming it in anti-drug laws. According to the minister, laughing gas is not officially considered addictive and therefore may not be categorized as a narcotic substance.

Laughing gas is used in the food industry, where it may only serve as a supplement in food production, Kondeva explained. This makes it possible to import enormous quantities of it. Health inspectors cannot prove beyond doubt how exactly it is used. It is readily available in stores and is consumed in enclosed public places in Bulgaria. Possession of laughing gas is not regulated by law. It is hard to identify it inside various containers and packaging such as balloons, which are not labelled according to the official requirements. Kondeva also noted the medical uses of the substance.

Since the sale of nitrous oxide to under-18s and its use in enclosed public places were banned in Bulgaria in August 2022, regional health inspectorates have conducted 23,873 checks, some of which have also involved Interior Ministry employees. The authorities have drawn up 32 written statements of violation of administrative regulations and 118 recommendation statements, the Health Minister said.

So far in 2024, there have been 1,789 specialized police operations and checks at more than 9,000 catering establishments in connection with the distribution of laughing gas, Interior Minister Stoyanov said. The checks have targeted places near schools, universities and children's playgrounds. A total of 3,346 crimes related to narcotic substances were registered in the first half of 2024. The police cleared 2,220 of these crimes, finding that 237 of them were committed by under-18s.

Stoyanov and Kondova assured the MPs that the Interior Ministry and the Health Ministry are working to prevent such practices.