Hippy Crack

This summer it seems you can't throw a stone in Bristol without hitting someone doing nos from a balloon. Yesterday I noticed two groups at it in Castle Park - at lunchtime on a weekday. Hey - the stuff was almost invented in Bristol so I guess it's kind of traditional.

Back in 1798 Thomas Beddoes and Humphrey Davy made the first practical set up for mass-producing nitrous oxide in Hotwells, Bristol. The stuff had been invented somewhere else by Joseph Priestley in about 1772 but he was from Leeds so is best ignored.

After laughing their arses off more than two men had ever laughed before the two realised they could make big money and pretty soon no Victorian dinner party was complete without a genius chemist and a fuming tank of laughing gas.

Now, a couple of centuries later, the hippies have realised noz is a great way to extract money from the pockets of straights and it's everywhere. Personally I'm not doing any drug which involves sucking in and out from a party balloon, particularly when the buzz only lasts a minute or two. Grown ups should do proper drugs like acid if they want to trip. But hey, if it's your thing fill ya boots.

Nos is one of the safest recreational drugs going. Do it sitting down so you don't get hurt if you fall over. Use a balloon so if you pass out it just falls away and you can still breathe. Do not put a plastic bag over your head and fill it with laughing gas for fairly obvious reasons, like not asphyxiating yourself. Don't overdo it. And the noise is annoying, of course.