A new joint QMUL-Tower Hamlets community project, N2O Know the Risks, was launched on 28 September at the Tower Hamlets town hall, with around 120 students from local schools participating in interactive workshops.
Supported by a QMUL Impact Fund award to WIPH, with matched funding from Tower Hamlets, the programme aims to educate people in the borough about the dangers of N2O misuse. The project will offer preventive workshops for young people in schools and other community settings, partnering with local youth group organisation Osmani Trust to upscale the number of workshops delivered. Borough enforcement officers will receive training on how to deliver on-street advice to users about the risks of N2O, and individuals issued with a fine for antisocial behaviour associated with N2O abuse will be offered workshops as a voluntary alternative to a fine.
Councillor Abu Talha Chowdhury, Cabinet Member for Safer Communities, said: ‘I attended one of the workshops and saw first-hand how they are already having a positive impact on the young people in our borough. We are confident that this combined approach of education and enforcement will drive down N2O usage in our borough.’
Professor Alastair Noyce said: ‘Over the last few years, I’ve seen a couple of hundred patients who have been using nitrous oxide and have come to harm. If you are using nitrous oxide and you experience any of these symptoms, it’s very important that you stop using nitrous oxide immediately and come to hospital to be assessed and start treatment at the earliest possible time.’