The Los Angeles City Council voted Tuesday to ask the city attorney to draft an ordinance that would bar the retail sale of nitrous oxide canisters, better known as "whippets," at tobacco and cannabis shops across the city. The motion passed 14-0, with Councilmember Ysabel Jurado absent, and would keep narrow exemptions in place for medical, culinary and industrial uses.
As reported by MyNewsLA, council members asked the city attorney to draft language that would prohibit tobacco and cannabis retailers from "selling, offering for sale, distributing or exposing for sale" nitrous oxide products, flavored or non-flavored. The current push stems from a motion first introduced in October 2024 by Councilmembers Imelda Padilla and Eunisses Hernandez and seconded by Councilman Tim McOsker.
What the draft ordinance would do
The council directed the city attorney to prepare an ordinance that would block tobacco and cannabis retailers from stocking or displaying nitrous oxide. At the same time, it would carve out clear exemptions for licensed medical, food-service, automotive and industrial uses, as well as for pre-packaged food items that use N2O only as a propellant. Those filings and supporting materials are logged in the city's official council file. At the state level, lawmakers are also pursuing a broader approach: SB 936 would limit the size of retail containers and bar flavored varieties.
Why backers want it
Supporters say the crackdown is aimed at curbing a growing trend of recreational inhalation and the increasingly visible littering of streets and parks with spent canisters. Councilmember Imelda Padilla told the Public Safety Committee that the proposal responds to "misuse of nitrous oxide" and documented public-health harms. Advocates, including Ray Marquez of Homeboy Industries, urged the council to act, warning that inhalation can deplete vitamin B12 and cause long-term nerve damage, according to MyNewsLA.
Legal questions and enforcement
How to enforce any new rules will be a central question. State law already makes possessing or using nitrous oxide for the purpose of inhalation a misdemeanor and prohibits sales to people under 18, while still allowing legitimate culinary and automotive uses. The statutory language on possession appears in Penal Code §381b, and related rules on sales to minors are set out in the same code. Courts, local attorneys and the council will have to sort out how to craft an enforceable local rule, even as federal regulators continue to warn about serious harms from inhaling nitrous oxide. The FDA has advised consumers not to inhale these products.
What comes next
The city attorney is now tasked with drafting the ordinance language and bringing it back to the council for committee hearings and possible revisions before any final vote. The move follows other local measures, including Rialto's 2017 ordinance, and lines up with ongoing state legislation and public health warnings, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.
