Michael Gove has said the Government plans to ban the sale of laughing gas to stop public areas from being turned into drug-taking “arenas”. The Communities Secretary was asked on Sky News’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme whether nitrous oxide would be banned and said: “Yes.”
Mr Gove said: “I think any of us who have had the opportunity to walk through our parks in our major cities will have seen these little canisters, these silver canisters which are examples of people not only despoiling public spaces but also people taking a drug which can have a psychological and neurological affect and one that contributes to anti-social behaviour overall.”
He said ministers had not yet decided at what drug classification level laughing gas would be set.
Mr Gove added: “We want to make sure the sale and use can be restricted for its appropriate purpose.
“We can’t have a situation, we mustn’t have a situation where our parks, our public spaces become drug-taking arenas. And that is why we need to crack down on new manifestations of drug taking and these laughing gas canisters are an increasing scourge and one that has been reported to me as a constituency MP.”
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