Film shows danger of laughing gas use behind wheel

A short film has been made in Leeds as part of a campaign to warn young people about drug-driving.

The film, produced by University of Leeds students, shows the risks of driving after inhaling nitrous oxide, also known as laughing gas, which has been controlled as a Class C drug since 2023.

Called NOS, after the slang word for the substance, it was created after staff at the Harehills-based Junior Sports Hub warned that drug-driving had become a growing concern among young people and families.

Luna Berger, the film's writer and director, said it aimed to show how the consequences of drug use could affect an entire family: "In the film, everyone is a victim. No one comes out as a better person."

NOS was produced with support from West Yorkshire Police, Yorkshire Ambulance Service and West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service.

The film follows two brothers whose lives are changed after a road traffic collision involving nitrous oxide.

"It shows how detrimental this drug is to families - not just your health, but also how it extends beyond the initial crash," Berger explained.

She added that older people sometimes failed to recognise nitrous oxide as a drug because it did not look like a pill or powder.

Emergency service crews advised the students on how the crash and its aftermath should be portrayed, with filming taking place on a disused road in north east Leeds.

West Yorkshire Police figures showed nitrous oxide was mentioned in 70 road traffic collision incident logs between January 2019 and June 2025.

However, the figures did not show whether nitrous oxide caused or contributed to the collisions.

A spokesperson for West Yorkshire Vision Zero, which is a public-led board tasked with eliminating all road deaths in the county by 2040, said 20 people had been killed and 180 seriously injured in drug-driving collisions over the last five years.

Over 800 drug-driving arrests had been made in the previous year, they added.

Baroness Lowe of Armley, who is West Yorkshire's deputy mayor for policing and crime and who chairs the Vision Zero Board, said tackling drug-driving, including nitrous oxide, was a "priority".

"This film captures some of the very real consequences, and I hope it encourages anyone tempted to think again," she said.

The film premiered at Hyde Park Picture House in May before being launched at The Point in Harehills.

Organisers said they planned to distribute it through schools, colleges, youth organisations and community groups across West Yorkshire.

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