site.btaHealth Ministry Ready to Check Compliance with Ban on Laughing Gas

At a hearing in Parliament on Wednesday, caretaker Health Minister Galya Kondeva said that the Ministry has set up an organisation for inspections by the Regional Health Inspectorates (RHIs) of the compliance with the ban on the sale and use of nitrous oxide (laughing gas). Kondeva was heard together with caretaker Interior Minister Atanas Ilkov on the control of the distribution of the narcotic substance hexahydrocannabinol in heated tobacco devices and food as well as of laughing gas on the territory of Bulgaria.

Since the introduction of the ban on August 5, 2022 until October 2024, when the total ban on sales of nitrous oxide and laughing gas cartridges to individuals was introduced, 25,210 inspections were carried out by the RHIs, some of which have also involved the Ministry of the Interior. Sixty-four statements of violation were issued for the infringements detected and more than 110 prescriptions were issued. Since October 8, 2024, a total of 4,390 inspections have been carried out, of which 2,487 were inspections in public establishments where no violations were found, and 1,903 inspections in various commercial establishments. One violation was established and one statement of violation was issued, Kondeva said.

Two national programmes for the prevention of drug use in school are being implemented throughout the country,  covering fifth-graders to eleventh-graders. A manual for implementation of the programmes has also been created, the Health Minister said.