This is the Guardian. The UK government recently announced it was going to make the possession of nitrous

oxide for recreational purposes a criminal offence.

Here the government says it will ban so-called laughing gas or nitrous oxide.

The idea is that the ban will reduce serious health risks and help clamp down on antisocial

behaviour. We're doing it because if you walk through any urban park

you will see these little silver canisters

which are the evidence of people regarding public spaces

as arenas for drug taking that is unacceptable.

But the decision has been criticized by drugs charities and even the government's independent

advisory council says it shouldn't be prohibited.

There tends to be this approach that,

oh, it's only minor or, you know, let people let off steam.

No.

So how risky is laughing gas, how much of a problem is

recreational use and are there better options than a ban?

I'm the Guardian Science Editor Ian Sample and this is Science Weekly.

Nicola Davis, you're a science correspondent with The Guardian and you've been covering the announcement

from the government that Nitrous Oxide will be banned in the UK and the expert reaction to this.

First off, let's talk about laughing gas give me a

potted history of the stuff so to put my chemistry hat on nitrous oxide so we're talking

here about n2 o so each molecule of this gas has got two nitrogen atoms

and one oxygen atom and it was first made in 1772 by the chemist Joseph

...