STINK TACTICS: To deter recreational use of laughing gas, the government would require producers to add sulfur dioxide to orders for some clients, the EPA said

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 31, 2020
By: Staff writer, with CNA

Nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas, has been listed in Taiwan as a controlled substance, meaning the regulations governing its production, importation, sale, use and storage have been tightened, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said yesterday.

The EPA yesterday listed laughing gas as the first non-toxic chemical regulated under the Toxic Chemical Substances Control Act (毒性化學物質管理法), Toxic and Chemical Substances Bureau Director-General Hsieh Yein-rui (謝燕儒) said.

While nitrous oxide is used in several industries, including the semiconductor manufacturing and food sectors, its unregulated use for recreational purposes has increased in the past few months, the EPA told a news conference in Taipei.

For example, the number of cases in which laughing gas was abused for recreational purposes in Taoyuan jumped from 134 last year to 455 in the first seven months of this year, police data showed.    [FULL  STORY]