Nitrous Oxide presented itself in two ways in our neighbourhood:
- The discarded cannisters.
- The anti-social behaviour their use generated.
Discarded cannisters
We learnt from our colleagues at Beddington ERF that the cannisters should NOT be put in general waste as this was dangerous when they reached the plant. We liaised with these colleagues to have public information posters provided and we displayed and shared this information as widely as we could.
At the same time, having collected up a lot of discarded cannisters (around 75) from around the neighbourhood we were faced with the problem that the regular waste collectors from Veolia were unwilling to take them away. In fact most people we asked were reluctant to go anywhere near them! One of the silliest arguments we heard was that they were worried they would get into trouble for carrying them in their vehicle. The problem was only sorted after a number of weeks with the help of a colleague from South London Waste Partnership and it did mean we were less enthusiastic about collecting the cannisters when out and about. These days we would probably pile any cannisters together and call them into Merton’s ‘Fix my Street’ as a rubbish-dump/fly-tip and that would probably get them removed. We have got to know more people in Merton’s Enforcement Team as well as those working on ASB.
Increased ASB
At the same time, the ASB that came with the cannisters was pretty striking. In the summer months, (mostly) youths were outside sharing the experience and as they were more and more influenced by the gas, tended to litter not just the cannisters but all other items of rubbish too – crisp packets, plastic bottles etc – the remains of a slightly bizarre picnic. These popped up several mornings a week, not just at weekends.
Plus, some pretty disheartening behaviour that included an incident where a car was stolen, joy-ridden across the grassy patch outside the New Horizon Centre and then got stuck in the mud, and in an attempt to get it out of the mud, our newly-installed garden trellis was ripped up and used under the wheels. The trellis was destroyed and the car remained stuck. On the plus side, the police arrested the people using the stolen and stuck car and with their help we pressed charges. Really to make a point that we don’t tolerate ASB on our doorstep and things like new trellises cost money.
Going to the causes
It was clear that just responding to the nuisance aspects on the ground was not going to be particularly rewarding and unlikely to solve or reduce the problem so we thought about the wider issues.
These included finding out more about the long-term health effects of using the gas recreationally and we discovered a very willing team of medical students at a hospital in East London who were happy to come and do sessions with young people and/or parents and carers about the side-effects. But we couldn’t get Merton Council’s Youth Services to take them up on this offer so we had to try other methods. We downloaded information and made it into paper leaflets that were available to people visiting the Community Centre – we focused on an audience of concerned parents/carers more than Children and Young People, since there is a Youth Centre next door to us and young people were more likely to go in there. Being the parent of a teenager can be a pretty terrifying experience so we thought we could help more there by at least presenting the facts about e.g. the chemical nature of the substance, how it was sold, what its effects and side-effects might be. This would, in turn, enable parents and carers to have conversations with their local councillors, MP, etc in order to see what could be influenced and where.
We also managed to get a regular seat on Merton Council’s Treatment and Recovery monthly meetings (run by Public Health Merton), which meant we could ask questions ourselves about how the substance was being used and whether the services contracted by the Council to help with drug and alcohol were available to help with the Nitrous Oxide problems. The answer was that they can be made available but that very few young people (Catch22) or adults (VIA Drug and Alcohol) were presenting to the services with questions about use of Nitrous Oxide. This has proved to be a valuable partnership for Commonside despite the fact that it didn’t provide a direct solution.
In addition to these measures, we are working with other local partners to find alternative activities for young people – there is already the Youth Centre next door – but we are also working with Fulham Football Foundation and the Met Police to run males and females football and training sessions at least two nights a week, with Merton Council to run out of school cooking and nutrition sessions, and with Media Management London to run a Talent Contest and to support young people interested in careers in the arts or creative industry.
My point in writing this up, was to demonstrate just how wide we have to go sometimes, to work out what factors can contribute to an acute local problem. We see it as our job to do this as there is generally never one mighty solution, we don’t like to just complain about it, and whilst we are not specifically funded to do this research and information sharing, we wouldn’t be doing a good job as a community centre if we didn’t.
The views expressed in this article are those of the Post author.
