Regardless of what the company says, it is clear that consumers have recognized the potential for abuse of these products. The company hasn’t adjusted its bright, colorful branding either. Smoke store websites in states across the country list Galaxy Gas alongside dab pens and bongs.

People aren’t just using Galaxy Gas for online gags – it’s popping up more and more on real streets, especially in Atlanta. Imyouski, a 22-year-old from the city who, like others in this story, asked to be identified by a nickname in order to speak openly about drug use, drank over 10 canisters and made a YouTube video about how he gets screwed at Galaxy Gas. He told me that it is sold in all local tobacco shops. “It’s like an epidemic, all young people are affected by it,” he said. “It’s too available, I could literally drive down the street right now and get how many I want… One day someone will want to see how much of it they can get and they’ll overdose.”

Imyouski criticized how Galaxy Gas is being “pushed out” to the public by retailers. He said many smoke shops offer discounts on canisters, which can cost between $60 and $100, to entice people to buy more so they never run out. He said one canister is usually enough for a day. The euphoria makes it hard to resist buying as much as possible. “It’s like an airhead – the brain is just numb, the whole body is numb,” Imyouski explained. “That’s the scary thing about it: it makes you feel so good.”

Dr. MacLean said whippets appear to have a “relatively low level of physiological dependence,” but it’s concerning when socially isolated or lonely people “really get stuck in the habit of taking lots of (nitrous oxide) alone in their bedroom with no one around.” “There to look after them when they pass out.” Rather than banning the drug entirely, she believes education needs to be improved. “Not like, ‘Don’t do it, you’ll die.’ More like explaining that if you’re going to do it, you shouldn’t use it every day, but minimize the number of times you use it and use it with other people.”

Others are less concerned about the damage. KB, a 17-year-old rapper from south Atlanta, told me that Galaxy Gas was everywhere and that he personally had “probably over a million hits.” His favorite flavor is Blueberry Mango. “This shit makes me feel good, there’s a lot to explain,” he said, adding that some of the whippets are infused with CBD, adding to the pleasant feeling. He says he has seen children as young as six or seven hitting whippets.

KB recently gained attention with “Whippets,” an unofficial theme song for Galaxy Gas Mania. The nitrous oxide makes his voice sound deep and high-pitched as he raps about getting geeked out and having sex with whippets. “I was the first to do it – I don’t think anyone has done a whippet on a racecourse before,” he said. In the hyperactive music video, he and a group of friends strut around hurling dozens of Galaxy gas canisters; He crosses the street with one in each hand and a third in his pants. “Get off the whippet, you know how it works!” he groans on the hook.