The Mendocino County Board of Supervisors has indicated an intent to craft regulations to limit the sale of nitrous oxide in the county.
The board passed a non-binding resolution Tuesday last week that will later be developed into an ordinance with regulations about nitrous oxide, also known as “whippets.” Supervisor Madeline Cline and Dr. Jenine Miller, Mendocino County’s health services director, will be drafting the ordinance.
The resolution states that the “recreational use of nitrous oxide has become increasingly common and is associated with serious health risks, including physical and mental health disorders, neurological damage, accidental injury, and in some cases, death.”
The resolution notes that it is already a misdemeanor under state law, punishable by jail time or a fine, to sell or possess nitrous oxide with the intent to use it for recreational purposes.
The local ordinance could include additional regulations regarding “age verification, point-of-sale restrictions, and retailer education,” according to the resolution passed by the supervisors.
Nitrous oxide canisters are small containers that contain a gas typically used in whipped cream dispensers. People, often teenagers, misuse them by inhaling the nitrous oxide to receive a “high” effect that causes lightheadedness or giggling and occasionally causes unconsciousness.
Dr. Marvin Trotter, who has decades of medical experience and worked 12 years as Mendocino County’s public health officer, has seen firsthand how nitrous oxide use impacts community members.
At Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, Trotter spoke about his time as a medical practitioner and the horror stories he has witnessed. For many years, he was a visiting doctor in Covelo, and he saw how heavy use of nitrous oxide negatively impacted the residents there.
“Four years ago, when I was working in Covelo, three young men decided to get some whippets from the local smoke shop and had a good time in their truck,” Trotter said. “The driver hit a telephone pole, and they all were killed. The smoke shop quit selling whippets after that.”
Trotter also spoke about how nitrous oxide use can cause serious health problems, like brain damage as well as other side effects.
“Sometimes people come in and can’t walk, they’ve had brain damage. People don’t realize how much cognitive decline can happen,” he added. “When you don’t have oxygen to your brain, that’s not a good thing.”
Cline said the whippets she has seen at local gas stations and smoke shops appear to be targeted at young people, with different flavors and colorful packaging, which is a major concern.
“In our day and age, where flavored tobacco is banned, why do we not have flavored whippets banned? That’s much more dangerous and concerning especially for youth,” she said. “I think that this [the resolution] will be a good way for us to meet our goal to be a safe, and healthy county.”
A draft ordinance based on the resolution will be presented to the Board of Supervisors at a later date.
The next Board of Supervisors meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. on Oct. 7 in the board chambers at 501 Low Gap Road, Ukiah. Meetings can also be watched virtually via Zoom. More information, including agendas, is available at mendocino.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx.
This story originally appeared in The Mendocino Voice.