
The Literature of Laughing Gas - mr_golyadkin
http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2014/09/17/extreme-extreme/
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user249
I logged in here with a throwaway account just to caution people that for a
small percentage of users it is highly addictive. Some call it 'hippie crack'
with good reason. After using it off and on for years and becoming more
addicted, my last binge lasted two weeks and I ended up in a dissociative
nightmare with nerve damage and a rash all over my body.

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chillingeffect
The observations on thoughts match my experiments about two weeks ago with the
stuff. I had the profound revelation that our perception is only about 1/10th
of reality. It was vastly enlightening- I realized it wasn't necessary to
sweat or worry over my perceptions, they're only a small chunk of what is
_really_ going on.

Also, during that experiment, I did some research via Erowid and discovered
this fascinating article about "Nitrous gangs." [0] It turns out, nitrous at
music festivals is a highly profitable and banned venture. To thwart this,
gangs have been organizing financially and physically to sell nitrous to
concert-goers without getting caught by organizers. The article reads a bit
like a Pricenomics entry:

[0] [http://www.villagevoice.com/2010-07-06/music/hippie-crack-
ni...](http://www.villagevoice.com/2010-07-06/music/hippie-crack-nitrous-
mafia-boston/full/)

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anigbrowl
Recreational use of nitrous oxide is not necessarily harmless, although it is
relatively mild and short-acting compared to other drugs. Excessive intake can
lead to convulsions and repeated abuse can result in damage to Broca's area, a
speech center of the brain, which can result in aphasia. This is also thought
to be a problem for ketamine abusers IIRC.

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bokchoi
Tangentially related: While expecting our first child, I learned that
hospitals are now offering nitrous oxide to mothers during childbirth. The
mother inhales just for the duration of the contraction. Apparently, the gas
nitrous doesn't stay in the body as long as opiates and less likely to affect
the baby.

