A Dublin TD wants the Government to launch an awareness campaign to highlight the dangers of nitrous oxide.
Commonly known as 'laughing gas', its used in the catering industry and in medical situations for it's pain-reducing effects.
But the gas is also increasingly being used as a recreational drug, particularly among younger people. There's been a rise in reports of the discarded silver canisters in a number of areas across Dublin.
Inhaling nitrous oxide depletes oxygen from the brain and can cause lasting neurological disorders.
Sinn Féin deputy Mark Ward, a former addiction counsellor, says teenagers are causing untold damage to themselves;
"When they first came out first they were in small canisters, 8 mg each, silver canisters known locally as silver bullets. But now they are in big containers, anywhere up to 80 mg, so we've no idea what a young person has taken when they take it."
