A BRIT holidaymaker in Ayia Napa was seen turning into a hysterical wreck after inhaling a massive balloon apparently containing laughing gas.
The unnamed man laughs uncontrollably and bounces up and down after inhaling the contents of a balloon. Nitrous oxide has been linked to at least 17 deaths in the UK.
He is egged on by pals as he jumps across the floor into an inflatable, before the substance wears off and he falls out of his chair and onto the ground.
The shocking 29 second footage was uploaded to Twitter by an account called Ayia Napa 2017, with the caption: “Damn son, it’s only laughing gas.”
More than 98,000 people follow the Twitter account, which labels itself the “Ayia Napa 2017 Official Twitter account”.
Laughing gas was made illegal outside of specific contexts such as cookery in the UK earlier this year under new laws that banned all kinds of so-called legal highs.
The Government moved to outlaw the substances after a string of deaths.
But in the party capital of Ayia Napa it is freely available in pubs and clubs – with many firms targeting young British holidaymakers.
Social media pictures show youngsters inhaling the gas, while others have drinks poured into their mouths straight from the bottle on bar crawls.
Tourist bosses in Cyprus are trying to mount a clean-up of the resort, just like authorities in Magaluf, Spain.
Lynda Burns, from the British High Commission, told the Cyprus Mail the island is a vital tourist destination for UK holidaymakers – with approximately one million visiting each year.
She explained: “We want to work together even harder and build stronger links to make sure Cyprus is always safe and secure for tourists.”
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Dr Paul Seddon, respiratory consultant and neonatal paediatrician at the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital in Brighton, said Nitrous Oxide poses a significant risk.
He carried out research after treating a teenager suffering from an unexplained pneumothorax, which is a sudden sharp chest pain followed by painful breathing.
The cause was unknown until the patient admitted she had inhaled laughing gas at a festival.
Abusing nitrous oxide can lead to oxygen deprivation resulting in a loss of blood pressure, fainting and even heart attacks.
It is thought many youngsters will have suffered similar problems after trying it out.
Dr Seddon’s story found 7.6 per cent of 16-24-year-olds in England and Wales have admitted to trying balloons before the ban was brought in.
“There’s evidence its use has mushroomed over the past few years,” he said.
“What’s little-known is that long-term use can result in all sorts of severe complications, such as causing problems to the nervous system.”
His study stated: “Seventeen deaths in the UK were attributable to nitrous oxide between 2006-2012, a figure which we would expect to rise given the current surge in usage.
“Pneumothorax should be considered in any teenager presenting after inhaling gaseous or volatile agents, and recreational drug use should be considered and addressed in teenagers presenting with a pneumothorax of unknown cause.”
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