Also known as hippie crack, and widely available at head shops. Nitrous oxide falls into an interesting gray zone of legality due to its use as a whipped cream propellant. Most states have laws against the intoxicant use of nitrous oxide while otherwise leaving it legal.

Nitrous oxide can be damaging or fatal if abused. The most common problem is method of use. If obtained from a whippet, nitrous comes out very cold, and people have injured themselves by putting the cracker in their mouth or so what. Be careful with pressurised tanks - unregulated pressure can damage your lungs. Never put on a mask of nitrous - people have died when they've lost consciousness and suffocated on the mask. The nitrous oxide used in a medical situation is mixed with oxygen and therefore safe. Never use the nitrous oxide available for race cars - it's mixed with other chemicals such as sulfur gas that will seriously damage your lungs. Nitrous oxide is not widely thought of as a physically addictive drug, but some cases of physical dependence have been reported. If used repeatedly, nitrous oxide will attack nerves in your extremities . Vitamin B12 supplements apparently ward off damage. Heavy nitrous use (300-400 times a week for several months) has sent people to the hospital without sensation in their limbs.

An odourless gas : good analgesic, poor anaesthetic properties; can cause wild euphoria. Is used a lot with patients who are dental phobics. Known as relative analgesia (RA).

Discovered in nineteenth century USA, and used an intoxicant in "ether revels" ie parties. (The anaesthetic properties of ether were also discovered about the same time.)

Patients "on gas" feel less anxious, and are less bothered by what goes on around them. They feel light and floatly, or they can feel heavy and sleepy. I usually stop increasing the percentage of N20 to O2 when they fell tingles in their fingers and toes. Maximum is 70:30 (n2o:o2).

Despite being a good analgesic, local anaesthetic is still necessary in most dental procedures.

The prerequisite to using gas is that 1. the patient must be cooperative (will fail with severe dental phobics and uncooperative kids) and 2. must not have a blocked nose.

Nitrous Oxide, discovered by Joseph Priestley in 1772 was initially used to relieve pain during dentist vists, found its way into the large piston driven engines of the German fighter aircraft to provide an instant power boost to airplane engines, often with catastrophic results.

The fundamental makeup of Nitrous Oxide being two parts nitrogen and one part oxygen lends itself to creating what can be massive amounts of power in combustion engines from lawnmowers to top fuel drag engines.

Oxygen is released from the nitrogen mix when it is heated turning it from a liquid into a gas. Mixing equal amounts of fuel into an already running engine causes a massive amount of additonal horsepower to be output from the engine. Several manufactures exist today that provide both kit and developed systems that can literally bolt onto your engine and at the flick of a switch add from 50 to 250 horsepower to an engine.

Performance applications range from the lower end horsepower systems known as plates that bolt under the carburetor with single or dual jets to high end systems that use nozzles which vaporize the mixture down each port in the engines cylinder head. Almost all systems utilize solonoids of some type to control the flow of nitrous from the storage tank, usually a 10 pound container which is placed in the trunk of the automobile and fed with braided stainless steel tubing.

Top racers will often elect to use a nitrous system to add horsepower in stages. These are called multi-stage systems. This is to help eliminate un-wanted wheelspin by adding too much power to the wheels from the start. These systems are controlled typically by a computerized controller today but some systems were controlled via relays that were engaged in a specific gear and RPM.

Additional performance can be realized by building your engine using specialized coatings on the piston domes and building your engine with an initially low compression ratio so the extra increase in horsepower provides the power without damaging the engine components.

Laughing Gas; available from the dentist, Whip-It canisters, and Dead shows, as well as in tanks from medical and restaurant supply stores. (There are also even more dangerous forms of N₂O: auto-grade and homemade).

A lungful of the gas produces about thirty seconds of auditory hallucinations (likened to quickly covering and uncovering one's ears), communion with the cosmic yin-yang, and possible minor brain damage. Studies of addicted dentists and emergency room walk-ins document that larger quantities and long-term use can cause paralysis and dementia; everyday risks include frost-bite (from the release of the pressurized gas) and asphyxiation.

Recreational use usually involves the aforementioned Whip-Its used for dispensing whipped cream and sold in many grocery stores. Other devices include crackers—metal or plastic devices sold in head shops and specifically made for releasing the Whip-It into a balloon—and charging bottles similar to the CO₂ type used for seltzer mentioned by moscow above.

There are a number of techniques to employ to reduce the risks inherent in taking nitrous. A lot of them are common sense, but people that are high often lose any sense at all.

First, remember that nitrous is not oxygen. Oxygen keeps you alive; nitrous doesn't. So don't fill a garbage bag with pure nitrous and tape it over your head. Don't open a tank wide up in an enclosed space. And if you want to reduce suffocation risks altogether, hyperventilate first. This also allows you to hold it in longer, which will get you higher.

Second, remember your Pressure/Volume/Temperature ratio from physics class. Remember that as pressure decreases and volume increases, temperature drops rapidly. Put the near-freezing gas in an intermediate container (like a balloon) before inhaling it. Don't use a plastic bag, use a balloon! It's much, much harder to suffocate yourself with an object that doesn't fit over your head.

Third, remember that you basically lose consciousness when on nitrous. When you pass out, be somewhere that this won't be detrimental, like a couch or a chair or laying on the floor. Balconies and tightropes are a bad idea. Standing might not be so bright, either.

Finally, like any substance (even food, air, and water), overconsumption has side effects. With nitrous, extended high dosages results in the depletion of vitamin b12. Over time, this depletion can result in damage to bone marrow, along with a host of other maladies. The few cases where people wound up in the hospital due to b12 depletion involved using dozens of bulbs per day for months at a time.

Follow these guidelines, and don't do anything stupid, and you won't get hurt.

As a side note to Ælien: I'm not going to tell you that your cousin didn't die, though making up such a lie seems to be a standard last resort of anyone deathly opposed to drugs. I will tell you that there must be more to the story than simply "he took a hit and suffocated." Either he had a bag over his head, or he had a medical condition that caused his heart to stop. Otherwise, when he passed out, he would have resumed breathing. You can't die from holding your breath.

The Basics: Nitrous in Motorsports.

Nitrous Oxide, or NOS as it is often referred to (see Nitrous Oxide Systems) is used in the motor sports world to gain horsepower, from a relatively small amount, 50, to a rather large amount, 300+.

But how batman, how?

Nitrous Oxide when heated to about 570F splits into nitrogen and oxygen. Nitrous Oxide also has a greater percentage of air then the atmosphere. Nitrous contains 36% oxygen per pound while the atmosphere only contains about 23%. A cubic foot of N20 contains 2.3 times the amount of oxygen then a cubic foot of air. This will be important in a few minutes. NOS (as it will be referred to from now on) is most commonly injected into the cylinders of your engine, just as gasoline is. When the piston comes around to the compression stage, the nitrous splits. Thus, you have more oxygen in the cylinder then before. With this extra oxygen, you can add more gasoline and keep your compression ratio optimal. More gasoline means more power (and more money…)

Don’t think you can strap a nitrous bottle to your engine and improve the horsepower. This is for a few reasons. First, NOS improves the power of your engine. More power means more pressure on the cylinders. More exhaust. More heat. Often, a stock engine cannot take a few big shots of nitrous before something goes very wrong. Nitrous is hard on your car, and may (will?) shorten the life of your engine.

Assuming your car can take it, there are some other things you have to consider. First, nitrous increases the air in a cylinder, as we have learned. More air does jack shit without more fuel. Your engine has to know to put more air into your cylinders to keep the compression rate right, which is very important. Also, Nitrous Oxide is very timing dependant. More on this can be found at http://www.kb-silvolite.com/page14.htm

Is it Legal?

Nitrous is legal in most states as far as I know. Nitrous is not usually for street use though. Nitrous is most common among street drag racers, for it is illegal in NASCAR and many classes of other organizations (see NIRA, NHRA) As far as countries outside the USA, I am not sure. In water sports, once again, I do not follow the restrictions or guidelines, but that may be something to look into.

Where can I get this stuff?

Nitrous Oxide for engines is available at many different vendors. The most common systems are of course, NOS, or Nitrous Oxide Systems. This page can be found at http://www.nosnitrous.com/HiOctn/ProdLine/Products/NOS/index.html. Often; NOS systems can be bought at your local performance auto shop, if you have one nearby. NOS sells kits for your car, as well as refill stations, bottles, fitting, and everything else you need.

To NOS or not to NOS

If you want to put NOS on your car, there are a few things to consider. First, is the price, this is something you have to use your own judgment for. Another thing to consider is weather you really need it. NOS is not for typical driving. Even with highway driving you do not want to use NOS. If you compete in the NIRA like organization, NOS may be an option, although check the rules first, many drag racing organizations do not allow NOS. NOS is for quick boost, and is not practical in most situations. Only you can decide if NOS is right for you. There are many other ways to boost horsepower such as Turbo/Superchargers, intakes, p-chips, etc..

Credits

Information from own knowledge, as well as the following:
http://www.idavette.net/hib/nitrous.htm
http://www.kb-silvolite.com/page14.htm
http://www.howstuffworks.com
If you notice anything wrong with the above, or have more information on rules, regulation, laws, etc.. please /msg me.

nitrous oxide
Sep 1997

I was bound to the bed with yellow rope. I had a vibrating silicon dildo in my pussy, a silver bullet shaped plug in my rear, and a clear anesthesiologist's mask, its elastic tight on the back of my neck, pumping nitrous oxide into my face. As I watched my boy manipulate the dials on the nitrous tank and dildo, I began to wonder if researching orgasmic potential hadn't hollowed the act. But then a blast of cold nitrous hit my face and all the room's audio garbage - the hum of the refrigerator and computer, street noise, the parts of words and songs - echoed around me. I was absorbed in the bright colors and didn't notice my boy remove the bullet and begin tonguing my ass. But then I did notice, remembered, and came. All the colors and echoes tightened and then I was blind, pelvis reaching for the ceiling, my back in a dramatic arch only performable with bound feet. I whimpered a single unconscious puff and then came again. Objects in my immediate view repeated and then receded into a lost vanishing point. The intensity of the colors overwhelmed the shapes that contained them. Pleasure rolled through my body and colors overwhelmed geometry. My face was cold. My breath's deep and hurried. The nitrous was blasting. I laid there in a mock hyperventilation with my pelvis shaking and my mind mushing. I was not sure where my partner was but the white psshhhh of the tank suddenly cut off. I laid there and what had just occurred began to slip out of my memory like a dream. An hour later, after I got on the subway and sat on its filthy seat, I could not remember the little details of the night or the grandness that made it seem so necessary.