Families, recovered users and police urge limits on retail sales of nitrous oxide and inhalants

Representative Nancy Murphy introduced HB 16 30 to prohibit sale of nitrous oxide and specified inhalants for recreational use while preserving legitimate industrial, culinary and medical uses. Sponsors and a large set of witnesses described how discrete, flavored and brightly packaged nitrous canisters and other inhalants are widely sold in vape shops, convenience stores and online, are inexpensive and can be consumed repeatedly to produce a short euphoric effect that leads to frequent re‑use, neurological harm and, in some cases, hospitalization or death.

Several parents described their adult children’s addiction trajectories, large personal financial costs and multi‑episode rehabilitation. Individuals with lived experience recounted psychosis, cognitive impairment and long recovery timelines after heavy nitrous use; one witness said she amassed thousands of empty cartridges. Merrimack police prevention and treatment staff and highway‑safety officers testified about increased seizures of canisters, on‑road impairment and difficulty detecting recent inhalant use during enforcement.

Law‑enforcement witnesses urged restricting retail sale and using licensing/inspection (for vendors already licensed for tobacco/liquor) as the enforcement mechanism. Some committee members raised technical questions about distinguishing culinary whipped‑cream canisters and legitimate commercial uses from recreational products; sponsors and police said exemptions for standard culinary packages would remain and the bill targets bulk and flavored retail products and delivery modes oriented to recreational use.

Supporters suggested packaging and flavoring create a rebuttable presumption that a product is intended for recreational inhalation and flagged an internet sales channel that avoids rigorous age verification. Witnesses pointed to other states with similar bans and urged the committee to act to reduce youth and community harm.