Los Angeles Votes 14-0 to Ban Nitrous Oxide Sales at Smoke Shops

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles just cut off one of the main retail pipelines for recreational nitrous oxide. The City Council voted 14-0 on Wednesday to ban tobacco and cannabis retailers from selling or distributing the gas — known on the street as laughing gas, or NAWS — for non-medical use, capping a two-year campaign by Councilmember Imelda Padilla.

The ordinance now goes to Mayor Karen Bass for final approval. If she signs, smoke shops and tobacco retailers will be barred from selling, distributing, or offering nitrous oxide products for recreational use, with an exception for pre-packaged food products that use the gas as a propellant — your whipped cream cans are safe.

Padilla framed the vote as part of a pincer movement with Sacramento. In her council remarks, she said she has spent two years shepherding the policy through the process — and that new state laws have handed cities sharper tools than they had before:

"Our fight against the recreational sale of nitrous oxide, often called NAWS, now has new tools at the state level. SB 758 prohibits smoke shops, tobacco retailers and convenience stores from selling nitrous oxide altogether. SB 936 bans flavored nitrous oxide and restricts the sale of large unflavored tanks, commonly used, recreationally."— Councilmember Imelda Padilla, via the NY Post

The council didn't stop at the retail ban. Members also asked the city attorney's office to prepare a separate, expanded draft ordinance that would subject all retailers offering nitrous oxide products for sale without a legitimate use to criminal charges — a signal that Wednesday's vote is the floor, not the ceiling.

The backdrop for the vote has been hard to miss. In late July, a striking scene unfolded downtown near the Orpheum Theatre, where a large crowd gathered clutching nitrous oxide tanks and inhaling gas from balloons, with a makeshift sidewalk bar also serving alcohol. And in June, a driver in Rancho Palos Verdes was caught allegedly driving while impaired after inhaling NAWS — blowing through stop signs and nearly hitting parked vehicles while police found ice-cold nitrous tanks and balloons in his car, according to the NY Post's reporting.

The health case is what brought the coalition together. Nitrous oxide is a colorless, nonflammable gas dentists use for pain relief; recreational use can produce euphoria and hallucinations, while heavy or improper use can cause serious injury or death. In Council File 24-1220, the official record behind the ordinance, support letters cited the FDA's 2025 warning against inhaling nitrous products of any flavor or size, and the Los Angeles Unified School District told the city it was concerned about a rise in students found with nitrous oxide on school grounds.

The proximity argument landed with numbers. Albert Melena of the San Fernando Valley Partnership, a nonprofit focused on healthy communities, told the council that 73% of schools in the city of Los Angeles sit within 1,000 feet of a smoke shop.

"73% of the schools in the city of Los Angeles are within 1,000 feet of a smoke shop. This is literally a public health issue."— Albert Melena, San Fernando Valley Partnership, via the NY Post

The push has deep roots. Padilla and Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez introduced the original motion on Oct. 8, 2024, seconded by Councilman Tim McOsker, and the city's Public Safety Committee advanced it unanimously in March 2026. The city's approach mirrors a similar ban enacted by Rialto in 2017, which prohibited nitrous oxide sales at specific stores within its city limits.

The paper trail in Council File 24-1220 shows how quickly the effort accelerated once the state got involved. On March 25, 2026, the Public Safety Committee unanimously approved an ordinance directing the city attorney to prepare the tobacco-and-cannabis-retailer ban. A month later, on April 24, the city moved to support SB 758 in its State Legislative Program, where — according to the filing — recreational nitrous oxide misuse is a "significant public health and safety concern, particularly among young adults and youth." The same filing points to the FDA's 2025 warning telling consumers not to inhale nitrous oxide products of any flavor or size, and CDC warnings that repeated misuse can cause severe neurologic, cardiovascular and psychiatric effects. A similar ban has been on the books in Rialto since 2017, and Padilla noted that cities and counties across California have been joining the effort — which then went "all the way to the state level" with SB 758 and SB 936.

What happens next is a two-step. First, Bass's decision on the tobacco-and-cannabis-retailer ban. Then the city attorney's broader draft, which would widen the net to every retailer selling the gas without a legitimate use — medical, food service, automotive, and industrial uses would keep their exemptions. Between Sacramento's new laws and the city's own ordinance, the recreational nitrous market in Los Angeles is about to have far fewer legal doors left open. See also our LAUSD coverage and more Los Angeles news.

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