Question 11217 — security of goods and people

Summary

Mr. Auguste Evrard alerts the Minister of the Interior to the shortcomings in the legal framework surrounding driving under the influence of nitrous oxide, a recent and rapidly growing phenomenon, the consequences of which raise significant road safety issues. On November 1, 2025, a 19-year-old young man from Arques in Pas-de-Calais was fatally struck in Lille by a 31-year-old motorist who refused to obey a police check. The driver, already known to the services for traffic offences, had consumed nitrous oxide at the time of the events, as established by the judicial investigation. This tragedy reflects a particularly worrying situation. The national medicines safety agency has recorded, in France, nearly 1,500 cases of adverse effects linked to the consumption of nitrous oxide between 2012 and 2021, a significant proportion of which associated with driving situations. The network of addictovigilance centers indicates that the number of cases evaluated has increased tenfold in recent years, with a continued increase in serious cases. According to the French observatory of drugs and addictive tendencies, 14% of 18-24 year olds declared in 2022 to have already experimented with this substance. The Hauts-de-France region is particularly affected: the regional addictovigilance center recorded 120 cases of serious complications in 2023, compared to 99 in 2022. Despite the law of June 1, 2021 prohibiting in particular the sale to minors and in drinking establishments, as well as the legislative proposals adopted at first reading in 2025 aimed at restricting its availability to professional uses only, the highway code does not currently provide for any independent offense of driving under the influence of nitrous oxide. The law on the road homicide of July 2025, although authorizing an aggravating circumstance in the event of a fatal accident, does not allow preventive sanctioning of this conduct. This substance is not classified as a narcotic, is not subject to any rapid screening test due to its very rapid dissipation in the body and does not, as it stands, fall under the definition of psychoactive substances provided for in Article L. 235-1 of the Code of road. Therefore, even when a fatal accident occurs and the consumption of nitrous oxide is the only cause, no independent offense can be upheld. The police only have the possibility of issuing a fine for failure to control the vehicle, a sanction limited to a second class fine. Health professionals, particularly at Lille University Hospital, emphasize that the identification of blood biomarkers reliable would require specific funding which is currently not available, even though screening systems exist in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. He also notes that several parliamentarians have already questioned the Ministry of the Interior on this subject, without a response having yet been provided until now. In this context, he asks him for his intentions and the concrete measures that the Government intends implemented in order to fill this legal void and prevent the recurrence of such tragedies: on the repressive level, with regard to the creation of an independent offense punishing driving under the influence of nitrous oxide and the classification of this substance among the psychoactive substances within the meaning of the Highway Code; on a technical level, with regard to financing the development of rapid and reliable screening devices and to the authorization of the systematic seizure of canisters found in vehicles; on the judicial level, regarding the strengthening of the regime of aggravating circumstances applicable to accidents linked to the consumption of nitrous oxide, particularly in the event of bodily accidents.

Machine translation from French. The official text remains authoritative.

Timeline

1. 25 November 2025

   Question

   Source: DateQuestion

2. 8 September 2026

   Réponse

   Face au fléau de l'usage détourné du protoxyde d'azote, en particulier chez les jeunes, la loi aimed at offrir des réponses immédiates aux phénomènes troublant l'ordre public, la sécurité et la tranquillité de nos concitoyens ("RIPOST") du 18 août 206 prévoit une interdiction générale de détenir, transporter et céder cette substance. A compter de février 2027, les particuliers ne pourront donc plus se procurer du protoxyde d'azote. Par ailleurs, la loi crée un délit d'inhalation puni d'un an d'emprisonnement et de 3 750 € d'amende et un délit de conduite après avoir manifestement consommé des substances psychoactives puni de trois ans d'emprisonnement et de 9 000 € d'amende. Afin de faciliter la preuve de l'usage détourné de protoxyde d'azote, notamment à l'occasion de la conduite d'un véhicule, la délégation à la sécurité routière participe au financement d'une étude aimed at valider scientifiquement la détection de protoxyde d'azote dans l'air expiré à partir d'un appareil de détection proche d'un éthylomètre.

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• Auguste Evrard · auteur

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