Laughing gas a resurging high? Suburban chief worried youth are being targeted

Inhaling nitrous oxide — often from “whippits,” the small canisters found in cans of whipped cream — for a quick euphoric high has been around for years, but a suburban police chief says the problem could be growing.

Sugar Grove Police Chief Patrick Rollins said much larger canisters of “laughing gas” are now being marketed to youth, with colorful designs, names like “Miami Magic,” and flavored gas.

They’re being sold in tobacco and vape shops across the area, including two in his town, Rollins told his village board recently.

“It’s just become a new wave of causing harm,” he said.

Nitrous oxide has long been used as an anesthetic for medical and dental procedures. The Drug Enforcement Administration lists it in its annual “Drugs of Abuse” report as an inhalant, adding that such substances “are often among the first drugs that young children use.”

According to a 2024 report, about 1 in 5 kids report having used inhalants by the eighth grade. Inhalants are “also one of the few substances misused more by younger children than by older ones,” the report states.

Some state lawmakers are trying to tackle the issue with legislation that would prohibit the items from being sold in stores that make more than half their revenue from alcohol- or tobacco-related products, including electronic cigarettes.

However, the measure has been stalled in a committee and has detractors, including the American Civil Liberties Union.

“Our concern is that the bill creates a new felony charge simply for consuming a substance — an offense that already is criminal under Illinois law,” said Ed Yohnka, public policy and communications director for the ACLU.

Experience and data show that adding new criminal penalties does not limit or regulate the use and availability of any substance, he added.

“It is time to move away from those failed strategies, not try the same old failed strategies again and again,” Yohnka said.

Crisis team honored

The Aurora Police Department’s crisis negotiations team has been named the 2025 Negotiations Team of the Year by the Illinois Crisis Negotiators Association.

The award recognizes the team’s work on Aug. 26, 2024, when members assisted a distraught woman having a crisis on the roof of a building.

The award was bestowed at the association’s annual conference in September. It was accepted by public safety worker Bridget Damschen, Lt. Mike Corrigan, Sgt. Chris Weaver, Cmdr. Ted Grommes, Sgt. Chris Grandchamp, officer Sandra Martinez, Sgt. Kaylea Young and Investigator David Guevara.

Dismissed but not defamed

A former Lake County sheriff’s deputy who was fired before officially starting on the force cannot pursue a defamation suit against the sheriff’s office and one of its top leaders, a federal appeals court ruled this week.

Patrick Jones Jr. was dismissed by the sheriff’s office in September 2019, while still in the police academy. Court documents indicate his dismissal came after he shared with his classmates what he believed to be a study guide for an upcoming exam.

The guide was in reality a “cheat sheet” featuring answers from a previous test, according to the court record.

An investigation by the academy determined that Jones likely didn’t know that, but the sheriff’s office nonetheless terminated plans to bring him on as a deputy when he completed his training.

According to his suit, it took Jones nearly two years and 27 applications to find another law enforcement job — and he blamed his struggles on the way he was fired by Lake County and the termination letter drafted by a top administrator questioning his integrity.

A U.S. District Court judge in Chicago sided with the sheriff’s office in March 2023, and on Tuesday, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed, ruling that there’s no evidence the termination letter was disclosed to potential employers, except with Jones’ approval.

Compounding your problem

People of faith believe lying is a sin. And involving God in your lie … well, that seems extra sinful.

Five people have been accused by DuPage County prosecutors of doing just that.

The two women and three men face forgery charges alleging they turned in paperwork indicating they had performed court-mandated community service through Catholic Charities.

The problem, authorities say, is that the letters were fake.

They had each been sentenced to community service for traffic or misdemeanor DUI offenses. They are now facing felonies.

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