Via the Sacramento Bee in California:
A 35 year old California man is suing three stores where he purchased “Whip-Its” after suffering an injury from abusing the product.
On Halloween night 2010 the man, a schoolteacher and law student, had returned home after purchasing the nitrous oxide canisters commonly known as “Whip-Its” when he lost feeling “from the rib cage down.” His wife took him to the hospital where doctors determined he had suffered a “degeneration of his spinal cord related to his abuse of nitrous oxide.” He was held in the hospital for two weeks and he still uses a walker to get around.
His attorney remarked that “nitrous oxide depletes vitamin B-12 from the blood, which can lead to spinal cord problems.” She also noted the man had visited the head shop and was looking around when the salesperson made a suggestion. "They didn't demonstrate inhaling it. They just demonstrated how to open the charger, with a cracker (a tool that releases the gas), and let the gas out into the balloon, to encourage him to buy the setup."
The man took them home and “"liked the effects” so he used them regularly over the next two months leading up to the October 31st 2010 incident.
The lawsuit was filed on June 25th under the Business and Profession Code provisions against mislabeled products. The stores claim the man’s injuries are a result of his own negligence and he misused the product and assumed his own risk.
The article points out that in “California, no laws prohibit possession of nitrous oxide, but statutes ban its sale to minors.” It also notes that “the New York state attorney general's office appears to be making the most aggressive effort in the country targeting retailers who sell nitrous oxide, filing a lawsuit last summer that obtained preliminary injunctions halting sales in more than a dozen stores.”
It also points out that “Whip-Its” are called America’s "most popular recreational inhalant of choice," with more than 12 million people having used the product to obtain a nitrous oxide high. Their popularity, the suit says, is a byproduct of their accessibility in head shops.”
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