Business Item 4b
STAFF REPORT
Council Business Item
DATE: December 1, 2025
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Amy Nilsen, City Manager
SUBJECT: Second Reading and Adoption of Ordinance 2025-778; Adding Chapter 8.45 to Title 8, Making it Unlawful for Any Person in the City to Sell, Offer, Distribute, or Provide Nitrous Oxide to Any Person
STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
Consider conducting a second reading and adopt, by title only, Ordinance 2025-778, which adds Chapter 8.45 to Title 8, Making it Unlawful for Any Person in the City to Sell, Offer, Distribute, or Provide Nitrous Oxide to Any Person.
INTRODUCTION:
Nitrous oxide, commonly used as a medical anesthetic and a propellant in whipped cream dispensers, is increasingly misused as a recreational inhalant. Its unregulated sale and misuse, particularly by youth, presents an urgent public health concern. This ordinance aims to address the availability and misuse of nitrous oxide by establishing comprehensive regulations for its sale, possession, and distribution in the City of Fortuna. This ordinance reinforces the City's commitment to protecting the health and safety of its residents by limiting access to substances known to cause harm when misused, while preserving access for legitimate purposes.
BACKGROUND:
Nitrous oxide, also known as "laughing gas," is a colorless, nonflammable gas that has both legitimate and illegitimate uses. While it is widely used in food preparation and medical or dental care, it has also gained popularity as a recreational inhalant. Despite existing state laws prohibiting inhalation for intoxication purposes and restricting sales to minors, the product remains easily accessible in large quantities and is frequently misused in unsupervised and unsafe ways. This has become a growing public health concern in the City of Fortuna, particularly among young people. The recreational use of nitrous oxide, particularly among adolescents, is linked to a range of severe health risks including nerve damage, cognitive impairments, psychosis, and in some cases, death. A 2025 study published in The Lancet found that youth as young as 14 can suffer irreversible neurological damage from recreational nitrous oxide use. In Humboldt County, the 2021–2023 California Healthy Kids Survey reported that 11% of 7th and 11th grade students had used inhalants, with evidence of initiation occurring as early as 5th grade. Nitrous oxide is often sold in small metal cylinders or “whip-its,” which are readily available in smoke shops and convenience stores, including near schools and public recreation areas. The lack of clear regulatory authority for local jurisdictions to manage retail sales of nitrous oxide has contributed to increased access and normalization of its recreational use.
Business Item 4b
The City Council received Nitrous Oxide presentations from the County of Humboldt Public Health staff on August 18 and again on October 6. The City Council directed staff to return with an ordinance banning the use of nitrous oxide which was presented to your Council on November 17.
At this time, the below is a list of actions taken by local jurisdictions. • County of Humboldt - Unincorporated County: Nitrous Oxide ordinance and TRL amendment (revocation of tobacco license for selling NO) were adopted on June 3, 2025 and took effect on July 3, 2025
• Arcata: Nitrous Oxide ordinance was adopted on June 4, 2025 and took effect in July • Rio Dell: Nitrous Oxide ordinance adopted on June 17, 2025 and took effect in July. • Ferndale: Nitrous Oxide ordinance adopted July 16, 2025 and took effect in August. • Eureka: Nitrous Oxide ordinance and Tobacco Retail Licensing (TRL) ordinance become effective January 1, 2026.
During the November 17 City Council discussion on Nitrous Oxide a motion was made to amend the ordinance to include language allowing a food distributor to distribute nitrous oxide to a food preparation facility for use in the preparation of food, such as a restaurant. The language below has been included in the ordinance.
• This section does not apply to the sale or distribution of nitrous oxide by a wholesale distributor of food supplies directly to the location of a food preparation facility located in the City of Fortuna, provided the transaction is documented by an invoice stating the date, time, quantity, and type of nitrous oxide product delivered and certified by the food preparation facility individual in charge on site that the product has been received by that facility solely for the purposes of food preparation. Each invoice must be retained by the food preparation facility and the wholesale distributor and is subject to inspection by the City for a period of three years from the date of transaction.
This ordinance will become effective 30 days from today’s date.
DISCUSSION:
Ordinance 2025-778 seeks to close existing legal loopholes by establishing a local prohibition on the sale, offer, distribution, or provision of nitrous oxide and related devices, except in cases where the product is:
1. Contained in food products for use as a propellant.
2. Administered for legitimate medical or dental purposes under supervision of licensed practitioners.
3. Dispensed by a licensed pharmacy or pharmacist.
4. Distributed by a wholesaler or manufacturer regulated under specified NAICS codes.
5. Distributed by a food wholesaler to a food preparation facility.
Violations of the ordinance will be treated as misdemeanors, subject to penalties including fines or jail time, and may also be enforced through nuisance abatement or administrative citation processes already established in the Fortuna Municipal Code.
Business Item 4b
The ordinance is modeled on similar efforts in California cities and counties and is intended to protect community health without placing an undue burden on businesses engaged in lawful sales of unrelated products.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no anticipated significant fiscal impact associated with adoption of this ordinance.
Enforcement may be conducted within existing staffing and budgetary allocations.
ALTERNATIVE TO STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
City Council could choose not to conduct the second reading of the ordinance. This is not recommended as nitrous oxide is a product has documented increasing recreational use, particularly among youth, and causes severe neurological damage. In addition, this would be inconsistent with prior City Council direction to staff to not approve the ordinance.
RECOMMENDED COUNCIL ACTION:
1. Receive a staff report presentation and review questions with staff.
3. Open public comment.
4. Close public comment.
5. Motion to conduct a second reading and adopt Ordinance 2025-778 and read by title only. Roll call vote.
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment A – Ordinance 2025-778 An Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Fortuna Adding Chapter 8.45 to Title 8, Making it Unlawful for Any Person in the City to Sell, Offer, Distribute, or Provide Nitrous Oxide to Any Person.