The silent killer: Inhalants and the Caribbean‑Canadian youth

That sharp hiss when a nitrous‑oxide canister is punctured may sound like nothing more than a whipped‑cream dispenser, until the cold gas fills a balloon and an uneasy giggle follows. For some families in Toronto, that hiss is becoming a soundtrack of adolescence. It is not festive; it signals kids chasing a cheap high in bedrooms, basements and school parking lots. Inhalant misuse has crept into our communities almost unnoticed. We need to name it and confront it.

Substance use is often framed around: alcohol, cannabis or opioids, but for many youths, especially those living in poverty, or dealing with racism and trauma, inhalants are the first mood‑altering substances they try because they are cheap, legal to purchase and easily concealed. National surveys indicate that about 3–5 % of Canadian adolescents have tried an inhalant, and a 2004 Canadian study found that 10 % of street youth in Toronto had inhaled solvents in the previous month. In the United States, recent data show that past‑year inhalant use among adolescents is similar among Black (2.7 %) and White (2.6 %) youth, underscoring that racialized youth are not immune.

Mental‑health distress is a major driver. A 2025 Psychology Today article noted that increasing nitrous‑oxide use among teens may reflect self‑medication for depression. In the article, child psychiatrist, Sarah Vinson, warns that Black youth face unique barriers to care and that suicide rates among young people aged 10–24 rose   62 % between 2007 and 2021, with a particularly sharp increase among Black youth. When mental‑health services are inaccessible, or culturally unsafe, kids may reach for whatever numbs the pain, even a gas canister.

Nitrous oxide: “whippits,” “hippy crack,” “NOS,” “nangs,” “balloons,” is sold legitimately as a whipped‑cream propellant, anaesthetic or car racing booster. In June 2025, Health Canada warned that sellers are disguising the drug in flavoured “whip cream chargers” and large cylinders to evade detection. Young people can order it from Amazon, or smoke shops as easily as they order earphones. In the United States, more than 13 million people have misused nitrous oxide, and deaths linked to the gas rose by 110 % between 2019 and 2023. In the United States nitrous‑oxide‑related deaths increased by over 500 % from 2010 to 2023. Researchers worry that marketing strategies, bright flavours like “Bomb Pop” and cartoonish branding, mimic those once used by tobacco companies.

The rush of “laughing gas” lasts only seconds, but the damage can last a lifetime. Repeated inhalation can cause vitamin B12 inactivation, leading to neuropathy and spinal cord degeneration, tingling and numbness in the limbs, confusion, depression and permanent paralysis. Health Canada lists other severe effects: asphyxia, blood clots, hallucinations, heart attack or stroke and even death. A 2025 study of German patients found that heavy nitrous‑oxide users (average age 21) experienced: sensory deficits, gait disturbances, motor weakness and elevated homocysteine levels despite normal vitamin B12 tests. Case reports describe frostbite burns to the mouth and throat when gas escapes at −89 °C, and some users have needed tracheostomies to breathe.

Inhalants lack the glamour of designer drugs; we seldom see them in headline statistics. Yet the ease of purchase and the invisibility of use allow harm to spread unchecked. Health Canada warns that advertising and selling nitrous oxide for inhalation is illegal, yet products continue to appear online and in stores. The Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse notes that volatile solvent abuse is common among disenfranchised youth and that economic deprivation, racial discrimination and dysfunctional family environments increase the risk. Among First Nations children in a Manitoba community, half were abusing solvents, demonstrating how silent epidemics can flourish when society looks away.

There is a particular urgency for the: Black, African, and Caribbean diaspora. Our youth already navigate racism, cultural dislocation and intergenerational trauma. Some parents, caregivers, youth workers, and community elders and leaders, may not recognize the slang (whippits, nangs, canisters, balloons), or the tell‑tale signs (empty metal cartridges, balloons, numb fingers).

• Parents and guardians: talk to your children about substance use, including inhalants. Learn the street names; check their deliveries.
• Faith leaders: integrate mental‑health literacy into sermons and youth programs.
• Healthcare providers: consider inhalant use when young people present with neuropathy, burns or behavioural changes.
• Policy‑makers must enforce existing restrictions on nitrous‑oxide sales and marketing; as researchers note, “Policy‑level interventions are what are lacking at the moment.” Restrictions on online sales, flavouring and package sizes would reduce impulsive use.
• Schools and community centres should provide culturally safe, trauma‑informed mental‑health services tailored to Black, African and Caribbean youth.

Finally, we need to reconnect with the values that sustain us. Caribbean cultures have long understood that it takes a village to raise a child. Our elders taught us to pray, to share, to look out for each other. Those same values can help us confront this modern threat. When we combine community vigilance with evidence‑based policy and compassionate care, we honour our ancestors and protect our children. Inhalants may be silent, but we refuse to be.