WHAT A STATE!

NEW POLICE POWERS AFTER MASS GATHERINGS LEAD TO ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR, LITTER AND ARRESTS:

A RESIDENT found more than 700 gas canisters while litter picking in a park.

Dave King, founder of community group Keep Grangetown Tidy, regularly cleans up Canal Park in Butetown, Cardiff, and said it was the worst he had seen it yesterday.

Mr King said he counted and disposed of 726 laughing gas, or “hippy crack”, canisters in total.

“I know Canal Park is always a problem so I go there litter picking to try and keep on top of it,” he said.

“Today though it was particularly bad, in particular the quantity of gas canisters and balloons left there.

“People are putting their lives at risk – people have died from using them. From a pollution perspective it’s a problem as well.

“I was there for about two and a half hours collecting all the canisters as well as other rubbish at the park.

“I found empty bottles of soft and alcoholic drinks and packaging from takeaway food. It seems like people are gathering there, eating and drinking with friends, then going home and leaving their rubbish behind.”

The small metal containers are commonly used by people who inhale nitrous oxide as a recreational drug.

It causes numbness and relaxation, often leaving the user unable to think straight and in fits of laughter.

The risks of nitrous oxide increase when alcohol is also consumed and the drug can be fatal if the person experiences a lack of oxygen.

Though it’s not illegal to carry nitrous oxide, it is illegal to supply the chemical for human consumption.

Driving under the influence of nitrous oxide is also a crime if it can be proved that it has impaired your driving.