San Francisco Police Crack Down on Nitrous Oxide Outside Dead & Company Concerts
The San Francisco Police Department arrested a man on suspicion of possessing and distributing large amounts of nitrous oxide outside of Dead & Company’s massive homecoming shows in Golden Gate Park this past weekend.
Per SF Gate, it wasn’t the only nitrous oxide-related inquest, with SFPD also issuing three citations and booking one person into San Francisco County Jail. The drug, familiarly known as ‘Whippets’ and known by Grateful Dead fans as ‘Ice Cold Fatties,’ has long been associated with the Deadhead community. It appears in the form of colorful, oversized balloons, which SF Gate notes were seen deflated and littered all around Golden Gate Park before and after the Dead & Co show.
The drug was so popular last weekend that SFPD identified a trailer containing 100 metal tanks on Saturday, which they presumed were filled with nitrous oxide. While the drug is not illegal to purchase (nitrous oxide can be used for cooking and other practical reasons) it is illegal to distribute it for recreational use. Its illicit status doesn’t deter everyone though; around the counterculture-centric Haight Street, a reddit user noticed flyers advertising the delivery of 20-pound tanks.
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When inhaled, nitrous oxide temporarily cuts off oxygen to the brain, resulting in a brief, intense high. In their heyday, the Grateful Dead were major proponents of the drug; there were tanks present throughout the recording of their 1969 album Aoxomoxoa, with Jerry Garcia attributing nitrous oxide to helping inspire the song “What’s Become of the Baby”: “If you want to make ‘What’s Become of the Baby’ work, I’ll tell you what to do: get a tank of nitrous oxide. All of a sudden it works!,” Garcia said in a 1978 interview. “When we were doing our mixes on that we had a tank. We were all there with hoses. All kinds of weird shit was happening. It was totally mad, total lunacy.”
The drug continued in relevance throughout the ’70s within the counterculture movement, and SF Gate notes that there’s been a resurgence of the drug in the Bay Area of late. Fans exiting and entering the park last weekend could hear dozens of ballon-strapped vendors advertising “Ice Cold Fatties” alongside the usual bacon-wrapped hot dog vendors, and many experienced fans were seen with their own balloons for nitrous oxide consumption (SF Gate notes that often, vendors will pick up used balloons and re-fill them, with one vendor claiming “The same balloon could have been used by 20 people over 13 states”).
While the Dead & Co’s major three-night stand at Golden Gate Park appeared to be a blast, nitrous oxide remains a very dangerous drug; it deprives your brain of oxygen, risking unconsciousness, nerve damage, or even sudden death.
Three arrested after nitrous oxide and £30,000 of cash found in Huyton
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Published:12:3008/12/2025
We have arrested one man and two teenage boys on suspicion of several drugs offences after a large amount of nitrous oxide, mobile phones and around £30,000 was found in Huyton last night (Sunday 7 December).
At around 10.30pm officers stopped a Black Ford Focus on Radway Road as part of a routine stop. When officers searched the car they found 26 large nitrous oxide cannisters, cash and mobiles phones.
A 22-year-old man and two boys aged 18 and 16 were arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply class C drugs. The 16-year-old was also arrested on suspicion of possession of criminal property.
Officers then searched three addresses in Liverpool and found a knuckle duster, snap bags, scales, several mobile phone, a luxury watch and large amounts of cash. It was estimated that around £30,000 of cash was uncovered in one of the houses that were searched.
All three suspects were taken to a police station in Merseyside where they remain in custody.
Detective Inspector Steven Byrom said: “I would like to thank our officers who spotted this car on Radway Road and thoroughly searched the properties in the area.
“Abuse of nitrous oxide is dangerous and has been linked to antisocial behaviour and criminality in Merseyside and across the UK. its misuse can cause serious harm, dangerous oxygen deprivation, long-term neurological damage, life-changing injuries and serious incidents on our streets.
“Those involved in organised crime and drug supply have no thought for anyone other than themselves, their criminal intent and greed. This criminal activity is hugely damaging to our communities, which often involves violence and creating fear in the neighbourhood.
“If you have any information about this incident or where drugs are being stored and dealt please come forward so we can continue to take action.”
Anyone with any information about drugs or any other organised criminal activity is asked to call Merseyside Police on 101, DM us @MerPolCC or call Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
Takeaway owner’s ‘jaw just dropped’ over council response to man’s ‘dangerous’ acts
Neither police or council will take action
Neal Keeling Chief reporter
07:31, 05 Aug 2025
A takeaway owner has spoken of his fury after being landed with a huge fly-tipping bill – after a man dumped waste in their bin.
CCTV shows a man clearly dumping hundreds of nitrous oxide canisters in a Biffa bin outside Gordon’s Kitchen, on Chester Road, Manchester.
The suspect was captured on film arriving at the business twelve times in three hours with bin bags full of the canisters and throwing them into a commercial bin.
But when the takeaway owners contacted police and Manchester City Council, both refused to take action.
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Anh Chen, co owner of the business, said: “I repeatedly contacted both the police and the council about a serious public safety issue.
“Over two hundred used nitrous oxide canisters and used balloons—evidence of recreational drug misuse—have been dumped in our commercial rubbish bin.
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“Nobody has collected them, and both the police and council have ignored or refused to handle the matter.
The man caught on film dumping used nitrous oxide canisters in a commercial bin of a takeaway business in Manchester.
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“The bin lid cannot close, waste is accumulating, and this hazard poses a risk especially in a public area where young people walk by. I have photos and CCTV footage as proof but it has not led to any action.”
“The person who dumped them came 12 times between 9pm and midnight on Tuesday this week,” Anh added.
“I contacted the council to report it as a fly-tipping incident but after one day they closed the case. I asked them why they had closed and they said as the canisters had been dumped in our bin and not on land it was not classed as fly-tipping. My jaw just dropped at that explanation.
One of more than 200 canisters dumped in a commercial bin at a Manchester takeaway.
“I think the authorities should take this matter seriously and assist with the safe removal of this dangerous waste.”
The owners also asked a private waste management company for a quote to remove them and were stunned by the price.
“I contacted a waste management company who said it would be £450 to send out a team to deal with it and it would cost £15.30p per canister to remove,” they said.
Nitrous oxide is a colourless gas, also known as ‘laughing gas’. It can be misused for its psychoactive effects – or to ‘get a high’ – by inhalation.
The law has been updated to make possession of nitrous oxide illegal if it is, or is likely to be, wrongfully inhaled, by classifying it as a Class C drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. It is now a criminal offence to be found in possession of the drug where its intended use is to be inhaled ‘to get high’.
The bin at Gordon’s Kitchen in Chester Road, Manchester, crammed with bags full of used nitrous oxide canisters.
It was already illegal to produce, supply, import or export nitrous oxide to be consumed for its psychoactive effects and it will remain so.
There is also a requirement on legitimate producers and suppliers of nitrous oxide to not be reckless as to whether someone is buying their product for wrongful inhalation, with no legitimate reason. Turning a blind eye will also be committing an offence.
Those found in unlawful possession will face either an unlimited fine, a visible community punishment or a caution – which would appear on their criminal record.
Gordon’s Kitchen takeaway which is in a row of businesses on Chester Road, Manchester.
A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police said there was an active inquiry into the dumping of the canisters and the victim would be visited again.
It is believed there could have been an offence committed with the disposal of controlled waste in a way that could harm the environment or human health. Failure to comply can lead to legal action, including fines or imprisonment.
Manchester city council said it was unable to comment as they did not deal with waste left in commercial waste bins.
