The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors affirmed its desire to prevent youth nitrous oxide abuse at its board meeting Tuesday by banning its sale and distribution in a 5-0 vote.
Nitrous oxide — used medically as a short-acting sedative — can be huffed and used recreationally to get high, which has become increasingly popular due to its sale at smoke shops around the county, the county’s Youth Commission has found.
“This really speaks to the power of the youth voice,” Supervisor Noelia Corzo said previously. “I’m a younger mom to a 14-year-old, and I had never heard of this and it’s really scary.”
The Youth Commission proposed a policy that includes requiring a 21-year-old age verification for purchase, requiring a specific permit to sell nitrous oxide and banning flavored nitrous oxide products altogether.
Mateo Garcia, a San Mateo resident and student at the College of San Mateo, spoke on behalf of the Youth Commission previously and shared the importance of addressing the health threat of nitrous oxide.
“This is a substance that I knew others my age were using, and I knew it had a dangerous level of accessibility in our community,” Garcia said.
Purchasing nitrous oxide with the intent of inhaling it to get high is already considered a misdemeanor in California, but it is permitted for culinary and automotive uses. It is prohibited to be sold to anyone under 18 years of age. The ordinance would ban the sale, attempted sale, offer to sell, distribution or provision of nitrous oxide in the unincorporated areas of the county. The ban would not apply to nitrous oxide sold or distributed in food products; for use with vehicles; at wholesale for identified purposes; for use by medical providers; or for research and development purposes; nor would the ordinance ban the sale or distribution of nitrous oxide by pharmacies.
The ordinance was sponsored by board President David Canepa and Supervisor Ray Mueller.
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