Portsmouth Police Slammed for Wrongly Arresting Teen Over ‘Laughing Gas’
Portsmouth cops face backlash after hauling in a 19-year-old at Victorious Festival last weekend for possession of nitrous oxide – aka laughing gas – with intent to supply. The teen was slapped with bail but has since been cleared.
Legal Loophole Clears Laughing Gas Users
Turns out, nitrous oxide is not covered by the Psychoactive Substances Act, despite the police’s suspicions. Two separate court rulings confirmed this, finding that nitrous oxide is exempt from the law cracking down on so-called ‘legal highs.’
The Psychoactive Substances Act, rolled out last year, targets new synthetic drugs but specifically exempts medical products. Laughing gas, widely used for decades by doctors as an anaesthetic and enjoyed by thousands recreationally, falls under this exemption.
Court Verdicts Blow Case Wide Open
- At Southwark Crown Court, the prosecution’s own expert witness said nitrous oxide is an exempt substance under current legislation.
- At Taunton Crown Court, Judge Paul Garlick declared nitrous oxide plainly qualifies as exempt in a separate festival-related trial.
The Act bans substances that affect mental functioning by stimulating or depressing the nervous system, but it carves out broad exceptions including alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, food, drink, and medicinal products referenced in the Human Medicines Regulations 2012. Nitrous oxide’s medical uses seal its legal status.
Drug Charity Calls for Urgent CPS U-Turn
Drug campaign group Release branded the law ‘fundamentally flawed.’ Executive director Niamh Eastwood slammed the CPS: “They must urgently drop all prosecutions under the Psychoactive Substances Act and review cases where defendants have pleaded guilty.”
Now, the teenager arrested at Victorious will have the case against him dropped on CPS orders – simply because he broke no law.
