One of the best kept secrets in the drug world is how well nitrous combines with psychedelics. It can make one hit of acid feel like ten hits of acid for about 60 seconds, which is a safer way to do some deep mental exploration without actually taking 10 hits of acid and riding that massive high for 12 hours.

Now, the safety information for anyone who hears that and gets a bright idea:

Nitrous oxide in recreational amounts inhibits the bodies ability to absorb B12 for days to a week. People who reuse within that window end up with a big B12 deficiency that can cause huge problems to multiple body systems. Anyone using nitrous should take a break of a month or longer between uses and be supplementing with vitamins to keep your levels up. You are safer doing more in a session and taking a long break than you are doing less of it very frequently.

The reason to use a balloon to inhale the nitrous rather than taking it straight out of the can like Steve O is that the nitrous comes out very cold and can have super frozen fluid that sprays out if held upside down. Dispensing it into a balloon and then inhaling from the balloon allows it to warm up so it doesn’t freeze your throat and causes you to suffocate or get freezer burn in your lungs.

Your brain needs oxygen. Take at least two deep breaths of oxygen for every one inhale of nitrous. Nitrous is heavier than air, so make sure to really exhale when you’re inhaling fresh oxygen. If your lips look blue, you need more oxygen. Make sure the room is well ventilated—it can create an invisible intoxicating cloud in enclosed spaces. This is especially risky if you have a tank that gets a leak because you’ll be too fucked up to walk yourself out of the closet to safety.

And my final pro tip: don’t look up when you’re inhaling the balloon! Your spit will dribble in the balloon and collect in the bottom, so if you tilt the balloon up, you will get Poseidon’s pickleback directly into your mouth, and when you’re already tripping, that is basically the final circle of hell.