Thinking of sending your kid to the store to grab the whipped cream you forgot? Not so fast — not unless they’re 21 or older.
Retailers across New York have started enforcing a law that passed last year requiring anybody purchasing whipped cream in an aerosol canister to be at least 21 years old — and show proof.
According to the Albany Times Union, the law passed following concerns that teenagers were getting high by inhaling the nitrous oxide in the canisters, also known as doing “whippets.”
According to the US Drug Enforcement Administration, inhalants are “invisible, volatile substances found in common household products that produce chemical vapors that are inhaled to induce psychoactive or mind-altering effects.”
Approximately 1 in 5 young people use inhalants by the time they reach eighth grade, and it’s one of the few substances abused more by younger children than older ones, according to the DEA.
Sen. Joseph Addabbo (D-Queens) sponsored the legislation.
“Sadly, young people buy and inhale things to get ‘high’ because they mistakenly believe it is a ‘safe’ substance. This law will eliminate easy access to this dangerous substance for our youth,” Addabbo told The Times Union.
Long-term inhalation of the nitrous oxide, also known as laughing gas, can cause memory loss and psychosis, while immediate effects include short-live euphoria, low blood pressure, fainting, heart attack and sudden death.
Retailers could get hit with a $250 for the first time they are caught selling whipped cream canisters to somebody under the age of 21, and fines can reach up to $500 for subsequent offenses.
While the law passed in November, the delay in enforcement is likely due to a “reporting mechanism.”
Kent Sopris, president of the New York Association of Convenience Stores, told the Times Union, “I think that there is some sort of reporting mechanism that just didn’t go the way it was supposed to. We had been tracking the bill last year, and when I looked in the bill tracking file, there is just no indication that it was signed.”
Sopris said he became aware the law had passed in June, and let members know so they could begin enforcing it at stores.
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