Except it is not funny at all:
"L.A. County targets nitrous oxide abuse" by Tami Abdollah | Associated Press, March 23, 2013
LOS ANGELES — Authorities say the use of nitrous oxide as a recreational drug has grown from a rave party phenomenon to being mainstream, boosted by the ease of social media to reach young people.
They say the drug has spurred fatal car accidents, rapes, and teen deaths — all in the name of a temporary high that lasts just a few minutes and costs just a few dollars.
I think we should put all you kids in a hermetically-sealed chamber until you are 21.
Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials have zeroed in on the recreational use of the drug since September, cracking down on more than 350 illegal parties, nearly all of which were selling nitrous oxide, or ‘‘noz,’’ spokesman Mike Parker said Thursday.
The operations are part of a new social media team set up by the department over the last six months to monitor and identify such illegal activities around the clock....
I don't know what is sadder, the kids getting high on noz or the police devoting so much time and tyranny to it.
And now that they have the social monitoring unit, what else will they be monitoring?
The gas is legal for dental work and is mixed with oxygen to produce ‘‘laughing gas.’’ The food industry uses it in whipped cream containers and it’s used as a propellant for race car drivers.
I remember going into the walk-in refrigerator when I was cooking and taking a few belts of 'em! Ha-ha-ha!
The parties can be very lucrative for those supplying them. Sheriff’s deputies are tracking one distributor who is making more than $60,000 a month in the bulk sale of nitrous oxide, said Sergeant Glenn Walsh who works in the Sheriff’s Department’s narcotics bureau.
Sheriff’s officials believe they have prevented a least 30 violent and sexual assaults in the last six months because of their efforts to shut down nitrous oxide-related illegal parties before they happen.
Party-pooping police, and when haven't they been?
One party was forced to change locations three times in one night, before finally moving outside of the sheriff’s jurisdiction, Parker said. But the department also notifies neighboring departments of the illegal parties when it spots them, Parker said.
It's like the floating crap game in "Guys and Dolls."
Some of the hot spots are unincorporated Los Angeles County and the San Gabriel Valley, where parties are held primarily in homes and warehouses, Parker said.
Part of the problem for law enforcement officers going after the illegal use of nitrous oxide is that its distribution or use as a recreational drug is only a misdemeanor, officials said.
Oh.
--more--"
Yeah, you don't see me laughing here, do you?
