Nitrous oxide canisters are getting bigger - way bigger - with some bottles now the size of a soccer ball and packing the same punch as 300 regular ‘nangs’.
According to RNZ these incredibly large ‘cream chargers’ have made their way onto the streets of Manurewa in Auckland - and they’re covered in designs that appear similar to popular video games and comic books.
The question is, if their legal purpose is simply for whipping cream, why do they need to be branded this way? Is it to appeal to a younger crowd?
Manurewa Local Board chair Matt Winiata told councillors he’s finding these massive 3.3 litre bottles littering local streets, warning they’re not only excessive in size, but deliberately marketed to grab attention.
None of that exactly screams 'baking supplies'...
One canister found and examined by RNZ appears to emulate ‘Grand Theft Auto’ graphics, while another is clearly labelled 'Nitrous Oxide', using an illustration of cartoon lips and a car.
It’s eerily similar to how companies leaned into colourful branding and dessert-like flavours to hook younger users on vaping products.
Back in June this year, a nationwide ban on the sale, supply, manufacture and distribution of disposable vapes came into place as part of the Government’s latest crackdown on vaping, especially among our rangatahi (young people).
This was part two of a bigger crackdown that kicked off back in December 2024.
That first wave saw tougher penalties come in for selling to minors, and vape stores banned from opening within 100m of kindergartens, schools and marae.
Prior to that, vape flavour names in New Zealand changed in March 2024 due to Ministry of Health NZ regulations that have since required product names to use one or two words from an approved list of generic flavour descriptions.
No more catchy, enticing names like 'Tropical Punch' or 'Vanilla Cupcake'.
Now there are serious concerns about the same issue with ‘nangs’- a legal product that can have devastating effects when misused.
