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View all search resultsAbuse of culinary products exposes regulatory loopholes on narcotics
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Discarded and empty nitrous oxide canisters are found on the street in Stockholm on May 1, 2025. (Shutterstock/Alexanderstock23)
T
he rampant misuse of canisters of nitrous oxide gas ostensibly marketed as whipped cream chargers but increasingly used to induce euphoria, has exposed regulatory loopholes that raise concerns about its impact on young people.
Nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas, is used in the culinary industry as a propellant for whipped cream or in dentistry as a sedation analgesia.
In Indonesia, canisters of pressurized nitrous oxide gas are legal to sell as culinary products, including a popular brand named Whip Pink. But the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) has found indications that they have been widely misused as a recreational drug to induce euphoria.
“We are faced with a new phenomenon of nitrous oxide abuse, which carries a high risk of severe neurological damage. What’s more concerning is that Whip Pink is being sold openly at entertainment venues,” BNN head Comr. Gen. Suyudi Ario Seto said at a discussion the agency held in Jakarta on Feb. 18.
Whip Pink has been in the spotlight this year after the death of internet celebrity Lula Lahfah at her apartment in Jakarta on Jan. 23. According to police, a Whip Pink charger was found at the scene, although investigators did not conclude that her death was connected with the chemical substance.
Sr. Comr. Zulkarnain Harahap from the Directorate of Narcotics at the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim) said the gas in nitrous oxide canisters is pure and not mixed with other substances, thus it is not regulated by either pharmaceutical or health regulations.
This, he said, made the banning of their distribution almost impossible.
