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Author: Admin | 2025-04-28
Maybe you’ve heard of them. Maybe you’ve even tried them. Maybe you’re just wondering: “Wait, what are teenagers doing with whipped cream canisters?”The connecting thread here: Whippets.Not to be confused with those sleek little race dogs, whippets are a popular party drug that give you a quick high and potentially serious effects.“Whippets are inhalant drugs,” says pediatric pulmonologist John Carl, MD. “They are undiluted nitrous oxide, which is also called laughing gas.”But whippets’ potential to cause harm is no laughing matter. Here, we break down what whippets are and how they can affect your health.What are whippets?Whippets are an inhalant drug popular among teens and young adults. They’re also knowns as whippits or whip-its. The name is in reference to whipped cream canisters, which contain little chargers that are filled with nitrous oxide. That’s what propels the whipped cream out of the canisters. People who use whippets inhale the gas from those chargers. Some people inhale the gas directly. Others fill something like a balloon with the nitrous oxide gas and inhale it from the balloon. Or they fill a bag with the nitrous oxide and close the bag around their head. The result is a short-lived “high.”“Inhaling nitrous oxide produces a very transient high — a tingling sensation or a sense of dizziness, calmness or relaxation,” Dr. Carl says. “You might also notice some slurred speech and loss of coordination.”Whippet cartridges can be bought on their own, not just in whipped cream cans. Some states have made it illegal to sell nitrous oxide canisters to people under the age of 21 in an effort to curb inhalant abuse.Nitrous oxide is commonly used for sedation to help people relax during medical procedures. It’s often used as a remedy for anxiety at the dentist’s office during a cleaning or a dental filling. But inhaling nitrous oxide outside of a medical facility is a much different circumstance.“In medical use, nitrous oxide is given in conjunction with a pretty high-flow oxygen,” Dr. Carl explains. “That helps to keep you safe from some of the effects of the gas. People using it recreationally aren’t
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