Nitrous Oxide

For months, parents in Diana del Pozo-Mora's Boyle Heights neighborhood had been hearing that children -- some as young as 11 and 12 -- had passed out at school after inhaling "whippets," small canisters of nitrous oxide. Recently, Del Pozo-Mora, the mother of three, was shocked when she saw an older boy buy a whippet canister from an ice cream truck parked outside a local elementary school.

The new year rang in with hundreds of new state laws governing how Californians live and do business. Starting today, restaurants face strict limits on cooking with artery-clogging trans fats; people wanting plastic surgery in California must get a physical first; dairy farmers are barred from cutting cows' tails; and the law gets tougher on mortgage fraud. Penalties for betting in office pools are reduced, but there are new fines for watching a dogfight, engaging in human trafficking and providing minors with nitrous oxide.

A third-year MIT student from Mission Viejo was found dead in his dorm room early Tuesday, apparently from an overdose of nitrous oxide, authorities said. Richard Andrew Guy, 22, was found by another student in his East Campus residence hall on the Cambridge, Mass., campus about 12:20 a.m., officials said. "It looks like an accidental death from nitrous oxide," said Frank Pasquarello, a spokesman for the Cambridge Police Dept. "Apparently he was breathing it in.

Nitrous oxide, known as laughing gas, is the biggest man-made destroyer of Earth's ozone layer now that the use of chlorofluorocarbons and other ozone-depleting gases has been restricted globally. Produced by fertilizing farmland and used by dentists to calm patients, nitrous oxide makes up about 40% of the emissions of ozone-depleting gases, said A.R. Ravishankara, a coauthor of a study in the journal Science.

Two women suspected of inhaling laughing gas were involved in a fatal crash Thursday when their car veered across the Santa Ana Freeway, struck the center divider and burst into flames, authorities said. The 22-year-old passenger, Laura L. McKannay of Flagstaff, Ariz., died at the scene of the 10:50 a.m. accident on the southbound side of the freeway near the Culver Drive exit, California Highway Patrol spokeswoman Angel Johnson said.

Standing outside a Stanton smoke shop, Anthony White said nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas, is the rage among young people and particularly popular at underground "rave" parties because it's inexpensive, easy to get and powerful. "You get a high quick and it wears out quickly so you can function normally," the 30-year-old said. "But I don't touch it, because it's a killer."

"Get ready to go higher, faster than you've ever gone before," tease the producers of a new video game, N2O: Nitrous Oxide--also the name of a dangerous intoxicating inhalant used at parties and rock concerts by many of the same young people who play video games. "The ultimate rush. . . . Give speed freaks the fix they need."

Two tanks of nitrous oxide, the so-called laughing gas linked to the accidental deaths of three young men last week in Chatsworth, were stolen a month earlier from Holy Cross Medical Center, where one of the victims formerly worked, police said Tuesday. The two 80-pound tanks found with the victims Friday did not carry individual serial numbers but by asking area hospitals to inventory their cylinders, police were able to determine that the tanks were the two stolen Feb.

Los Angeles police said Monday that they are investigating whether two tanks of nitrous oxide--so-called laughing gas--linked to the accidental deaths of three young men were stolen from a hospital where one of the victims formerly worked. On Friday, three men were found dead of apparent asphyxiation in the cab of a pickup truck parked in Chatsworth.

The dark warehouse, illuminated only by laser lights and littered with party flyers, is packed. Energized "techno" dance music--distinguished by a rapid thumping bass--is spun by a deejay and paired with film loops that repeatedly project psychedelic images on the vibrating walls. In the back, two young women giggle as they suck on a balloon. They lie down, pass out, then get up to inhale some more.

For months, parents in Diana del Pozo-Mora's Boyle Heights neighborhood had been hearing that children -- some as young as 11 and 12 -- had passed out at school after inhaling "whippets," small canisters of nitrous oxide. Recently, Del Pozo-Mora, the mother of three, was shocked when she saw an older boy buy a whippet canister from an ice cream truck parked outside a local elementary school.

Scaled Composites, the fledgling space tourism company founded by rocket pioneer Burt Rutan, was fined $25,870 on Friday as a result of an accident last July that killed three workers at the firm's Mojave, Calif., testing facility. The fine covered five violations of workplace safety codes, including a failure to maintain a safe working environment and to properly train workers handling hazardous materials, according to the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health.

One of the greatest benefits that scientists have wrested from nature for the benefit of humankind is anesthesia to take away the pain of surgery and tooth extraction. Julie M. Fenster, a columnist for American Heritage magazine, does a fine job of describing the emergence of anesthesia in America in the 1840s when the turbulent young republic was stretching its wings and expanding its reach.

Twenty Irvine High School students have been suspended for five days and one faces possible expulsion after officials busted them on May 20 for having marijuana, alcohol and nitrous oxide in a chauffeured van outside the senior prom. The senior facing expulsion allegedly supplied the nitrous oxide to the others. He will almost certainly not be expelled, however, because the school year will end before the six-week disciplinary proceeding can be completed, Deputy Supt. Dean Waldfogel said.

Police in Cambridge, Mass., filed drug charges Friday against two people in the case of an MIT student from Mission Viejo who died after inhaling laughing gas from a plastic bag. Susan Mosher, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology senior, and recent graduate Rene Ruiz, both 22, face charges stemming from drugs found in the dorm room where Richard A. Guy was found dead Tuesday, MIT Police Chief Anne Glavin said.

A third-year MIT student from Mission Viejo was found dead in his dorm room early Tuesday, apparently from an overdose of nitrous oxide, authorities said. Richard Andrew Guy, 22, was found by another student in his East Campus residence hall in Cambridge, Mass., about 12:20 a.m., officials said. "It looks like an accidental death from nitrous oxide," said Frank Pasquarello, a spokesman for the Cambridge Police Department. "Apparently he was breathing it in.

Three young men were found dead early Friday, apparently asphyxiated after inhaling nitrous oxide--so-called laughing gas--emitted from an 80-pound canister they held across their laps in the sealed cab of a pickup truck. Los Angeles police called the deaths accidental and said the victims died after the canister's valve was left open inside the truck, parked with its windows up on Topanga Canyon Boulevard in Chatsworth.

Nitrous oxide, known as laughing gas, is the biggest man-made destroyer of Earth's ozone layer now that the use of chlorofluorocarbons and other ozone-depleting gases has been restricted globally. Produced by fertilizing farmland and used by dentists to calm patients, nitrous oxide makes up about 40% of the emissions of ozone-depleting gases, said A.R. Ravishankara, a coauthor of a study in the journal Science.

A third-year MIT student from Mission Viejo was found dead in his dorm room early Tuesday, apparently from an overdose of nitrous oxide, authorities said. Richard Andrew Guy, 22, was found by another student in his East Campus residence hall on the Cambridge, Mass., campus about 12:20 a.m., officials said. "It looks like an accidental death from nitrous oxide," said Frank Pasquarello, a spokesman for the Cambridge Police Dept. "Apparently he was breathing it in.

Scientists have found large amounts of a gas linked to global warming in the Pacific Ocean's shallow waters, suggesting that increased El Nino activity could stoke even greater production of the gas. The University of Hawaii researchers sampled seawater at a site about 60 miles north of Hawaii that's considered representative of the deep-ocean waters that border the Pacific's tropical zone.