Muhammad Memon is a junior at Wayzata High School in Plymouth, MN
By Muhammad Memon
In mid-August, a video of a kid named “Lil T Man” inhaling strawberry cream Galaxy Gas while reviewing wings at an Atlanta restaurant went viral.
At first, viewers on Instagram and TikTok expressed confusion. As the weeks went on, more videos of young Black men using the substance—a form of flavored nitrous oxide also known as laughing gas and whippets—went viral. Users’ voices would go down a couple octaves. Some would pass out. Others would laugh uncontrollably.
Almost as soon as the videos went viral, there was backlash. Galaxy Gas has been criticized for being heavily marketed to young Black people and for being dangerous. Medical experts and celebrities say it can be addicting and that it can damage your brain, impacting your IQ and memory. While nitrous oxide itself cannot kill you, inhaling too much of the gas at once can lead to oxygen deprivation which has led to a few deaths. Nitrous also can cause harm to your brain and body, according to The National Library of Medicine.
Nitrous Oxide is often used safely within medical settings where it can be expertly controlled to prevent harm.
Despite the dangers of using it recreationally, many teens are still curious enough to try it. They want to see what the hype is all about.
I personally agree with the majority of the internet: Galaxy Gas is dangerous. I live in Wayzata, and the majority of the people that I personally know don’t take Galaxy Gas very seriously; they see it as a funny joke and a meme on social media, and we haven’t ever seen somebody actually use any.
But recently, a friend of mine told me about using it. He was at a party while he took it, and they were passing it around their group of friends. Suddenly something that appeared as a harmless meme made its way into real lives of people I know.
Galaxy Gas is legal, and it is very accessible online and in stores.
Although people have been using nitrous oxide recreationally for a long time and will likely continue to do so, I think Galaxy Gas’ viral fame has changed people’s perspectives on it. The memes online have made people start researching and caring more about this drug and its effects on the youth and that’s a good thing, but the downside of it is more people having it be shown and marketed toward them. I see this within people in my life. For a while that friend that I knew never cared for Galaxy Gas and made fun of people who used it, but his curiosity got the best of him and that’s what I feel is happening with this trend to lots of youth in America.
Some say that some of the information flooding online about dangers of nitrous and Galaxy Gas is not necessarily true and the truth has been twisted a bit for the sake of scaring people away from doing such a thing. Galaxy Gas itself argues that the product is a whipped cream charger intended for culinary use only.
These arguments can be quickly dismissed. While it’s true that Galaxy Gas’s stated intended use is for whipped cream, the way they market it mirrors the way vape companies try to get their products caught by kids’ eyes with flashy colors and fruity flavors with fun names that appeal to them. Galaxy Gas is sold at smoke shops across America—which makes no sense if it’s for “culinary use only.”
Like most internet trends, Galaxy Gas quickly reached peak popularity and now seems to by dying out. But its viral fame teaches an important lesson: Memes, whether made to be harmful or not can affect the world in drastic ways even if it doesn’t seem to be a serious thing. Jokes have the power to become serious and the Galaxy Gas situation isn’t the first or the last time for the internet to start harming individuals.
Muhammad worked with University of Minnesota-Center for Writing Consultant Tala Kim and Minnesota Reformer Reporter Madison McVan to complete his story. This story was produced as part of ThreeSixty Journalism’s 2024 Op-Ed Workshop for high school youth in partnership with Sahan Journal and the Minnesota Star Tribune.
