Lobbyist calls on state govt to take action on nangs
A young Australian has launched a nationwide campaign against nangs after becoming addicted and experiencing psychosis.
Twenty-two-year-old Sam Bramman is on a mission to stop young Australians from using nangs after becoming addicted to the harmful substance and developing drug-induced psychosis.
Three years ago, when Bramman was 19 years old, he decided to try nitrous oxide – commonly known as nangs – at a house party, thinking it was a harmless party drug. Nangs were designed to use in whipped cream dispensers.
But the 30-second high soon spiralled into addiction and drug-induced psychosis, with Bramman using up to 50, eight-gram bulb nangs a day.
“I tried it, and pretty quickly, I became hooked. So, I was thinking about it after I did it, and in the next few days, I drove to a smoke shop in my area and bought a packet of 10,” Bramman said.
“From there, I was dependent on it. I had a cloud of addiction over my head, and it really took a hold of my life. It was my sole purpose of the day, to use it.”
Six months into his addiction, Bramman began experiencing drug-induced psychosis, which manifested as paranoid thoughts and a lost sense of awareness.
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“I’d driven up to the Gold Coast by myself, and I was walking around the city streets with black, cracked, bleeding feet, walking all day screaming not making much sense … Thankfully, my parents flew up to the Gold Coast and saved me,” he said.
The now twenty-two-year-old spent two months in a psychiatric ward and was later bed-bound for a year and a half recovering on antipsychotic medication.
“I failed to do basic things like shower, brush my teeth – I was really kind of a shell of a human, and it wasn’t until after my medications got reduced that I started to get my life back about me,” he said.
Now, Sydney-based Bramman is on a mission to stop other young people falling into the same spiral of addiction. He wants South Australia and Queensland to tighten rules after having success in New South Wales.
In early 2024, Bramman came up with the idea for No2Nangs, which lobbies governments around Australia to enact stricter laws around nitrous oxide and is also involved in education campaigns at schools around New South Wales.
Bramman also ran 271 kilometres from Sydney to Canberra to raise awareness about the impact of nangs and rally for legislative change.
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“I went to the gym, hopped on the treadmill, and I had the thought that I’d run from Sydney to Canberra parliament to raise awareness around nitrous oxide misuse and help inspire young Australians to overcome their addictions and to try to motivate people and also to call on the government for a law reform around nangs because of the fact they’re so easy to access,” he said.
New South Wales recently prohibited the sale of nitrous oxide to people under the age of 18 and restricted when and how the products can be sold. The state government quoted Bramman in its announcement.
Meanwhile, the Australian Capital Territory recently announced it will enact similar reforms.
He wants South Australia to tighten laws that made it an offence in 2019 to sell or supply nitrous oxide to people under the age of 18, or to sell the product between 10pm and 5am.
In SA, it is also an offence to make nitrous oxide visible or accessible to the public in retail stores and to fail to display a notice on the premises detailing the offence of selling nitrous oxide to minors.
But Bramman wants SA to also tighten rules around the sale of large nitrous tanks that are readily available online.
In November 2025, Queensland announced that Queensland Health would be able to seize all lawful smoking products found at illegal stores, including nitrous oxide bulbs.
According to the Alcohol and Drug Foundation, nitrous oxide is a colourless gas often used for sedation and pain relief but is also used recreationally to get “high”.
Bramman hopes that one day, nangs will no longer be seen as a harmless party drug, with plans to turn his educational talks at schools into a full-time gig.
“I’m hoping to get grants from the government to make it a full-time thing, and eventually, go all around Australia sharing my story and helping other people, inspiring other people to not go down a similar path to what I have,” he said.
A South Australian government spokesperson said that the state “has recognised that while there are legitimate uses for nitrous oxide canisters (such as in catering and other trades), there is also a clear and significant risk that these items can be misused or abused”.
The spokesperson said that in 2020, law reforms came into effect banning the sale of nitrous oxide canisters to minors, which is punishable by a penalty of up to $10,000.
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