Canisters providing several doses can be bought for as little as £2. Also known as "hippy crack" and "sweet air", nitrous oxide can lead to strokes, seizures and even death.
The Home Office's 2012-13 drug misuse findings revealed 6.1 per cent of those aged 16 to 24 had taken the drug in the last year, while in the wider 16 to 59 age group the figure was 2 per cent.
Last August Joe Benett, a 17 year-old public schoolboy, suffered a heart attack and brain damage after taking what he thought was laughing gas while at a party with friends. Joe, from Golders Green, north London, died after being in a coma for a month.
It was later established that the canister from which he inhaled had been mis-labelled and it contained other gases, including butane.
There have been documented deaths involving recreational use of nitrous oxide in other countries.
In another new trend, the Home Office figures revealed 2 per cent of 16 to 24 year-olds admitted using salvia, a legal herbal high that can produce hallucinations.
Use of mephedrone - which was banned by the government in 2010 declined from 1.1 per cent of all adults in 2011-12, to 0.5 per cent in 2012-13.
Overall drug use continued to decline, with 8.2 per cent of adults admitting taking illicit drugs in the last year, down from 8.9 per cent in the previous 12 months.
A Home Office spokesman said: "Nitrous oxide is a legal substance which has a number of legitimate medical and industrial uses but any suggestion of abuse, particularly by young people, is of concern.
"Home Office minister Jeremy Browne wrote to summer festival organisers earlier this year highlighting the government's concerns about the availability of nitrous oxide and asking that they take steps to prevent its sale at events."
Source : http://telegraph.feedsportal.com/c/32726/f/568612/s/2f27040c/sc/1/l/0L0Stelegraph0O0Cnews0Cuknews0Ccrime0C10A20A24840CLaughing0Egas0Eis0Eparty0Edrug0Eof0Echoice0Efor0Eyoung0Epeople0Bhtml/story01.htm