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The Sun on laughing gas


Guest bryanj01
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Accuracy of The Sun newspaper articles  

53 members have voted

  1. 1. How accurate is this news story?

    • Spot on, word for word
    • A few typos here and there, but broadly on the nose
    • I'm a little concerned about News Corporation's fact-checking procedures
    • At least he's got the name of the gas correct
    • I think this guy did a bit too much coke last payday


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This just OCRd from the first edition of Saturday's Sun:

DEADLY NEW USE OF LEGAL HIGH

BALLOONS AND GIGGLES...BUT LAUGHING GAS IS NOTHING TO JOKE ABOUT

by Nick Francis

MUSIC festival fans are getting their highs on laughing gas - despite warnings it can kill.

The growing misuse of nitrous oxide as a drug comes in the wake of meow

meow and NRG-1 being recommended to be banned.

Users suck the gas - known as "hippy crack" - from balloons to get a two-minute kick of euphoria and uncontrollable fits of laughter.

It is popular because it is seen to be a safe drug and possessing and inhaling it is LEGAL.

Nitrous oxide is used medically as an anaesthetic, most commonly during child-

birth or dental work, and recently the number of thefts from hospitals has soared.

And last night Sun doctor Carol Cooper warned she knew of 15 deaths a year in

the US from abusing the gas.

She said: "There's a risk of passing out and even asphyxiating to death from lack of oxygen

"Nitrous oxide works quickly, making it an obvious drug for abuse. The main effects are light-headedness, dizziness, a feeling of well-being, euphoria, pain relief and often a sensation of floating.

"Some describe distorted sounds, especially if listening to music, which could add to the festival experience."

Dealers make up to £1,200 in a single night selling laughing gas - more lucrative than selling Class A drugs such as cocaine and heroin.

Despite its harmful side effects, The Sun discovered there are no measures to control who gets their hands on nitrous oxide.

We bought FIVE canisters online for less than £30, which included next day delivery from a company based in Yorkshire.

The law allows anyone over 18 to buy nitrous oxide, although we were not asked to prove our age.

A dealer can fill around 40 balloons from a single cannister, which are then sold for £ to £4 each.

They sneak canisters into festivals and clubs, then fill the balloons once past any security checks.

Festival staff have reported finding thousands of balloons strewn across fields.

Fans have been spotted passing balloons around in a circle before collapsing in fits of laughter.

A full balloon is enough to give four people a hit.

DANGER

On Facebook there is a page dedicated to laughing gas with 2,600 followers and,

more worryingly, a page called Mr Gas - Laughing Gas/Nitrous Oxide Delivery

service in Cardiff.

If you follow the link it promises to deliver nitrous oxide to your door WITHIN AΝ HOUR of ordering and give a price on request.

Mum-of-two Leanne Mato, 23, from Liverpool, who has used laughing gas, said: "I did it in Ibiza on holiday but did it again at the Creamfields festival in Liverpool.

"Some people inhale it straight from the canister rather than a balloon, which

must be dangerous. If you look around at festivals loads of people are using it.

"I only did it to be sociable as everyone in my group was trying it but it made us all feel sick and wobbly on our feet."

Dr Ken Checinski, consultant psychologist to drugs information charity FRANK,

said: "Nitrous oxide can starve the brain of oxygen which leads cells in the brain

to break down very quickly."

And he added: 'This can cause a haemorrhage, seizures or simply lead the person to have a serious accident. All of which can kill.

Edited by bryanj01
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I really need to start buying the sun, i knew my life was missing something

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Back on the subject

a lot of what's said is actually true but it's just jumping on the "legal highs are bad" bandwagon,

you could make up horror stories about any drug, or anything. As the media seems to do on a regular basis,

I'm starting to believe they must have someone employed with the job of comeing up with something new that can kill you!

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Back on the subject

a lot of what's said is actually true but it's just jumping on the "legal highs are bad" bandwagon,

you could make up horror stories about any drug, or anything. As the media seems to do on a regular basis,

I'm starting to believe they must have someone employed with the job of comeing up with something new that can kill you!

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a lot of what's said is actually true but it's just jumping on the "legal highs are bad" bandwagon,

you could make up horror stories about any drug, or anything. As the media seems to do on a regular basis,

I'm starting to believe they must have someone employed with the job of comeing up with something new that can kill you!

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A good friend of mine actually sells this stuff as part of his day job....no he is not a casual drug dealer, but sells it to put in cars (NOS) for drag races etc....Therefore he has a readily supply of it and numerous canisters in his house. Every time we have a session, or even a few beers we have a few balloons, but personally it doesnt affect me in the slightest. I might get about a 4 second 'light headed' feeling but nothing like the feelings from the article.

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Having had some recent experience of some "legal high" with a name which consisted of a new jumble of random letters, I have to say it was bloody awful, an awful comedown and some generally unpleasant unfeelings for hours on end did not make for a good time, my body system still feels totalled by it - give me good old illegal highs any day.

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Back on the subject

a lot of what's said is actually true but it's just jumping on the "legal highs are bad" bandwagon,

you could make up horror stories about any drug, or anything. As the media seems to do on a regular basis,

I'm starting to believe they must have someone employed with the job of comeing up with something new that can kill you!

Isn't it funny how the drug that causes one in twenty deaths in Scotland never gets any flack in the same way as other "legal highs"? ;)

Only when publications put aside their hypocrisy will 'stories' like this start to have any credibility.

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