Gas and Solvent Use headlines April to June 2025

UK

'Gregarious' Halifax student, 19, dies in horror crash after 'losing his head' A young driver died after he crashed head-on into a BMW while high on cocaine and after inhaling nitrous oxide from a balloon.

Mum, 21, died at home after inhaling laughing gas while battling chest infection, inquest told Kira Booth was discovered in her flat in Burnley by a support worker in November after she went silent on social media for 24 hours.

Birmingham New Street Station attacker who 'bit and clawed' police dies at bail hostel The 30-year-old was said to have died from ‘solvent abuse’ at the centre – a site used to accommodate offenders after they are released on licence from prison.

USA

Heartbroken mom's warning about 'hippy crack' after daughter dies from overdose on every day product Ashley Weir, who died at 30 years old, started inhaling nitrous oxide, also known as whippets or laughing gas, in 2020 after being introduced to it while working in a restaurant.

Springfield man convicted of manslaughter for crash that killed 2 in SE Salem A 12-person jury on Wednesday unanimously found Terrance H. Quackenbush-Benson guilty of two counts of first- and second-degree manslaughter for huffing an inhalant, driving into the wrong lane on Southeast Cordon Road and causing a head-on collision that killed two people.

Medical Examiner's Office says 9-year-old San Diego girl died from nitrous oxide complications A nine-year-old girl died in March from "methemoglobinemia in the setting of recent nitrous oxide administration" following dental surgery in Vista, the Medical Examiner's Office confirmed Thursday.

Arizona teen girl dies after copying viral "dusting" trend Renna O'Rourke died on Sunday, June 1 after seven days in an ICU. Her death came after she participated in an act known to many on social media as "dusting."

BRAZIL

Girl, 8, died after participating in dangerous challenge on trendy app most parents don't know about Sarah de Castro went into cardiac arrest after she took up a challenge on Kwai, a Chinese-owned app similar to TikTok, and inhaled fumes from an Old Spice aerosol deodorant last Thursday.

Greece

Four teenagers released after classmate dies from aerosol inhalation in Paphos Four 17-year-old boys arrested following the death of a classmate who inhaled lighter gas at a school in Paphos have been formally charged and released.