Have you ever looked down in the street and seen small metal capsules lying in the gutter?

It looks like The Borrowers have been fly-tipping after using a lot of SodaStream.

They are the containers that nitrous oxide was kept in.

That’s a gas that’s used as a propellent in whipped cream dispensers.

So look around you.

Does it look like a lot of pâtissiers have been knocking up some tasty desserts in the gutter?

If not, it might be more sinister.

This particular oxide of nitrogen has a strange effect of the human body.

It relaxes you and gives a feeling of euphoria.

It has been used in dentistry as a pain killer.

Once more, survey the area.

Do you see a reclining chair, a set of tiny drills and a cup to spit in?

If not, these canisters may have been left there by drug users.

It’s also known as hippy crack and it’s being banned.

The Government is launching a new crackdown on anti-social behaviour.

And it will see the sale and possession of such an item become illegal.

As yet I don’t know how that will effect the whip cream chefs.

They may bring in a licensing system or we’ll have drier desserts.

Or we’ll send a lot of chefs to prison.

Whichever the result is at least we’ll start to get control of this gas menace.

I must admit I have never seen anyone using this drug.

I don’t move in the kind of circles where this kind of things happens.

But I can see from the amount of canisters left lying around that the problem has got worse in recent years.

Official figures tell us that nitrous oxide is the second most prevalent drug among young adults aged 16 to 24 years, after cannabis.

The drug can make you feel disconnected from reality.

I know this shows my age but why would you want to disconnect from reality if you’re under 24?

Connect to it and enjoy it.

When you get to my age and your knees hurt for no reason other than they’re getting sick of all the bending, then you’d want to disconnect for a while.

My age and distance from this party scene means the main reason I want to see this drug cracked down on is the littering.

Those little metal capsules are always in the gutter and I worry about the state of my tyres.

I’ve got enough on with all the potholes.

If the Government can crackdown on all of those little elastic bands left by the posties next I’ll be over the moon.