Northern Neck mother leading charge in state nitrous oxide restrictions

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- Virginia lawmakers are considering a sales and distribution ban of "nitrous oxide," sometimes considered "laughing gas," products that are misused for intoxication or inebriation through two identical House of Delegates and Senate bills.

Having the data to back it up, some advocates, like a Northern Neck mother, Gerrie Gray-Benedi, who has an adult son who had faced nitrous addiction, say it's killing people nationwide.

Gray-Benedi says her son was close to being part of that statistic.

"In both of his knees, they were swollen all the way past his knees, you could barely — you couldn't see his ankles," Gray-Benedi said. "The E.R. doctor said to me that if I hadn't brought him, he would have been dead that weekend."

Virginia law says nitrous products can be sold to anyone over 18 years of age, but it is illegal to deliberately inhale the nitrous for intoxication.

At many local vape shops -- like an unidentified one that 8News visited in Henrico County's West End -- devices administering nitrous oxide can be found. Upon our visit, the shop owner told 8News that her regulars who purchase the devices and cartridges use them for legitimate purposes, like baking.

When the substance is deliberately inhaled, though, it can cause euphoria and disassociation, according to Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Health. The substance can be administered through whipped cream cans, balloons, small canisters called "whippets," or other ways.

"First and foremost, there's no public health benefit to these products," says Dr. Andrew Yockey, assistant professor of public health at the University of Mississippi.

Dr. Yockey says legitimate purposes for nitrous, such as in baking and clinical use, are acceptable. He added, however, other unintended uses of nitrous has led to a 600% spike in deaths between 2010 and 2023.

"I think that's really speaking to the widespread availability of these products," Dr. Yockey said.

Through his research, he got in touch with Gray-Benedi, who shared her story of her son's addiction, discovered in early 2025, after which he was eventually hospitalized.

On Wednesday, Jan. 21, Gray-Benedi testified to the Virginia Senate Courts of Justice Committee, pushing for Virginia law to ban the selling and distribution of the sedatives and devices used to inhale them.

"What I don't want is to see another family have to suffer because this is a legal poison that's in our stores and is accessible," Gray-Benedi said in a Zoom call with 8News.

The Senate committee unanimously voted 15-0 to keep the bill alive later on Wednesday. A vote on the Senate floor is likely coming in the next few days. At the same time, a House of Delegates committee hearing should be scheduled.

The owner of the West End vape shop we visited, however, told 8News the legislation is misguided. She said people will still find a way to get nitrous products and added that she believes the U.S. Food and Drug Administration should control all sales, allowing only those with licenses to be able to buy nitrous.

The shop owner said some of her customers purchasing nitrous claim to work at local bakeries.

Overall, all parties seem to agree that educational awareness is key, regardless of the bills' outcomes, especially in sharing real-person testimonies in schools from those who have suffered from the addictive substance either firsthand or by losing a loved one.