Costa Mesa police bust 2 smoke shops for nitrous oxide sales, as county supports ban

As county officials draft a law to ban the sale of nitrous oxide gas in unincorporated Orange County, Costa Mesa police are educating residents about the dangers of inhaling laughing gas and citing retailers for improper sales of the substance.

Police officials in a social media post this week shared photos of gas canisters and chargers seized from two Costa Mesa smoke shops. Members of the department’s Special Investigations Unit determined employees had not been selling products in accordance with state laws.

Although the retail sale of nitrous oxide — used medically for anesthesia and pain relief, as well as in certain foods such as canned whipped cream in some meringues — is not prohibited in California, its use for recreational purposes is a misdemeanor offense.

Purveyors who sell nitrous oxide, also called NOX or NOS, are required by law to record all transactions, including customers’ names and addresses, and make them sign a document highlighting the health risks and laws around sales and uses of the product.

But on Jan. 24, members of Costa Mesa Police Department’s Special Investigations Unit visited five smoke shops where nitrous oxide-related products are sold and found two purveyors out of compliance with the law, spokeswoman Roxi Fyad confirmed Friday.

“Investigators randomly chose five smoke shops to contact,” Fyad wrote in an email. “Two had enforcement action for improperly selling nitrous oxide, and the other three [had been] closed for a significant amount of time, so contact was not made.”

The two stores where citations were issued are located on the 700 block of Baker Street and the the 500 block of W. 19th St. CMPD reported 678 large cylinders and 5,542 small N20 chargers — aka whippets, or whip-its — were seized from one location, while about 183 large cylinders and 1,048 chargers were taken from the other.

The products boasted a variety of flavors, ranging from mango and fruit punch to blue raspberry and coconut. Costa Mesa police reported Tuesday that in addition to the nitrous oxide, several local smoke shops’ inventory included other illegal items.

Detectives with Costa Mesa police’s Special Investigations Unit seized 861 large cylinders and 6,590 N20 cartridges of nitrous oxide from two local smoke shops on Jan. 24.

(Courtesy of the Costa Mesa Police Department)

“Detectives also found several of these businesses were unlawfully selling psilocybin and THC-related products, which they also seized and booked into evidence,” CMPD’s post read.

The seizures come as the Orange County Board of Supervisors earlier this month unanimously supported an ordinance that would ban the sale of nitrous oxide products in unincorporated areas.

Supervisor Katrina Foley, who introduced the ordinance in a first reading by the panel during a Feb. 11 meeting, said the fact that laughing gas is legally and commonly sold at area smoke shops and liquor stores masks the health risks of ingesting the gas.

“NOX suffocates your brain, and causes serious neurological harm, even death. [But] because NOX is sold like a candy bar at a corner store, consumers falsely assume ingesting it is safe,” Foley said in a statement after the meeting.

“Allowing the sale of nitrous oxide at local shops offers zero benefit to consumers. It only endangers public health.”

A second reading of the proposed ordinance is set for later this month. If approved, the county health officer would be directed to prepare a report and make recommendations on the abuse, use and sales of the substance throughout Orange County and direct county counsel to take legal action as necessary on related matters, according to an agenda report.