Nitrous oxide, which has been misused as a recreational drug for decades, has a new name on social media: Galaxy Gas.
Galaxy Gas, a vendor in Georgia, sells canisters of nitrous oxide that it says are meant to turn liquid cream into foam for beverages and desserts. But videos of young people inhaling the gas from colorful canisters — some of them advertising flavors like vanilla cupcake and strawberry cream — have gained traction on TikTok, YouTube and X in videos with millions of views.
The visibility of the products on social media, where the name “Galaxy Gas” has taken off as a shorthand for nitrous canisters generally, has prompted a fresh wave of concern about the dangers of the gas and its appeal to young people.
What is Galaxy Gas?
Galaxy Gas is best known for its whipped cream chargers: cylinders of pressurized nitrous oxide gas that are legal to sell as culinary products. The company paused the sale of its canisters on Sept. 19 after several widely circulated videos showed young people inhaling from them.
One video that shows a man sucking from a strawberry-flavored Galaxy Gas canister has been viewed more than 28 million times on X, according to the company’s analytics. A TikTok video with close to a million views shows two young people browsing flavors of Galaxy Gas together — and deciding between fruit punch and watermelon lemonade.
Just how popular is it?
Nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, has longstanding medical use as an anesthetic but has been misused for decades as a party drug called whippets. So while it is difficult to say how many young people have sought out nitrous oxide because of these videos, searches for “galaxy gas” have increased sharply in the past two months, according to Google Trends.
Concern about the use of inhalants among young people has also been mounting: An article in The British Medical Journal warned in 2022 that doctors were seeing an increase in young people experiencing neurological problems as a result of recreational nitrous oxide use.
More than 13 million Americans have misused nitrous oxide in their lifetimes, according to the 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. And some state legislatures have taken action: In 2021, New York passed a law prohibiting people under 21 from being able to purchase whipped cream chargers containing the gas.
What are the safety concerns?
While nitrous oxide can be safely administered in a dentist’s office, it can be “very dangerous” to inhale without a doctor’s supervision, said Dr. Purva Grover, the medical director of pediatric emergency departments at Cleveland Clinic Children’s.
In the short term, the gas can cause dizziness and headaches, and can impair judgment to the point of serious injury, Dr. Grover said. Nitrous oxide can also imperil the cardiovascular function of people with low oxygen levels, she said: “That could lead to really bad things, including, your heart could stop.”
A 2024 article in the journal Addiction noted that nitrous oxide “could well be addictive,” but that there was no scientific consensus. Doctors are also concerned that chronic inhalation of the gas can affect the body’s ability to process vitamin B12, Dr. Grover said, which can lead to neurological illness.
How has Galaxy Gas responded?
A spokeswoman for the company wrote in an email that it was “deeply concerned about the recent news reports and social media posts of individuals illegally misusing our products.” She continued: “Both our terms of use and conditions of sale strictly prohibit unlawful use, misuse or appeal to children.”
Although Galaxy Gas has stopped selling whipped cream chargers, its products are still listed on some wholesale websites that supply products to smoke shops. Nitrous oxide canisters from other brands remain available to order from Amazon and Walmart for less than $40 a canister.
What about TikTok and other social media platforms?
TikTok no longer shows video results for searches for “galaxy gas,” instead directing users to a page offering resources about substance use and addiction. A representative for the company said that videos of people using nitrous oxide were not allowed on the platform, but declined to share information on how many videos had been removed.
Some videos of young people inhaling nitrous oxide remain on TikTok with hundreds of thousands of views. They are also available on YouTube, X and Reddit, where they are more easily searchable. Canisters of Galaxy Gas are also being used as virtual accessories on Roblox, a gaming site with a young user base.
What about the packaging?
Last week, the musician SZA expressed concern that the look of Galaxy Gas could be especially enticing to young customers. “Something about the childlike designs and marketing is so spooky like … stars and bright colors?” she wrote on X, adding that she was worried about the product being marketed to Black children.
The Galaxy Gas spokeswoman said that its flavor range and colorful appearance reflected the fact that the company’s products were sometimes sold in smoke and sex shops as an “erotic novelty.”
“Customers use Galaxy Gas to make flavorful whipped cream lubricants for their pleasure,” she said, adding, “Our marketing clearly speaks to this use, and we have never attempted to market or sell our products to children.”
Still, the look of today’s whipped cream chargers alarms Dr. Gail Saltz, a psychoanalyst and associate attending physician at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center.
Misuse of nitrous oxide was a problem long before Galaxy Gas, she said. What is new is the brandishing of colorful packaging and novelty flavors on social media — a combination that is likely to help the products appeal well beyond the demographic of chefs preparing whipped desserts.
“Consciously or subliminally, the message is, This is OK for kids,” Dr. Saltz said.
