A young man addicted to “nangs”, or nitrous oxide, was seen swerving on the country’s busiest highway, cutting off motorists and nearly crashing into wire rope and barriers.

Braden Dean Allen was driving south on the Waikato Expressway near Karapiro when he was seen speeding up and slowing down, cutting off cars while inhaling the gas, and drifting over the centre-line multiple times.

The 20-year-old was spotted pulling into Mobil at Karapiro with a balloon in his mouth, inhaling the “Nos”, also known as “laughing gas”, “whippet”, “hippy crack”, “buzz bombs” and “creamers”.

When police approached him at the station on the afternoon of July 19 last year, he was asleep in the driver’s seat and found to be a suspended driver.

The Matamata man appeared for sentencing in the Hamilton District Court yesterday morning on several driving and drug charges.

His lawyer Sarah Fraser said her client had been transparent with her and a pre-sentence report writer, admitting his nitrous oxide addiction and struggles to deal with it.

She urged Judge Kim Saunders to follow a recommendation of home detention.

Court documents state “Nos” is a colourless gas commonly used for sedation and pain relief by dentists and medical professionals, or a food additive for whipped cream or to enhance engine performance in vehicles.

It’s also used by people to get high.

It’s a dissociative drug that causes people to feel separated or detached from their body or environment for between 10 and 45 seconds.

Drugs like nangs can cause hallucinations, changes in thoughts, emotions and consciousness.

Nos is usually inhaled from canisters, ranging in size from 8.5g to 2000g, using a nozzle or from a balloon.

Driving while impaired is one of the four primary causes of road trauma in New Zealand.

‘I’m addicted’

Allen’s licence was suspended for three months for excess demerits on June 5 last year.

Four days later he was seen driving a white Range Rover along Peria Rd, Matamata, while inhaling a balloon – likely “Nos”.

He was seen driving the vehicle again the next day and on June 26.

Each time he was caught on Z service station CCTV.

The next month he was caught at Mobil Karapiro with 702g of packed cannabis, snap-lock bags, scales, “multiple” Nos canisters and balloons with a 2000ml canister and a large amount of ice.

When questioned, he said he knew he was suspended from driving and was addicted to inhaling Nos.

At 10.34pm on February 19 this year, Allen was stopped by police while driving after he was seen huffing from a balloon.

He was breath tested and returned a level of 356mcg. The under-20 excess breath alcohol limit is zero.

Fraser told Judge Saunders that her client has been trying to do counselling for his addiction but has struggled to build a rapport with counsellors.

Allen was a father of two and worked with his mother on their family food truck.

Judge Saunders noted Allen eventually wanted to move to Australia with his partner and work in the mines.

He would also move to Putāruru and live in a cabin on his partner’s property.

She also said she hadn’t been given any information about his drug dealing, his yield or profits.

“There’s a lot of information I should have been told that I do not know about.”

However, she accepted Fraser’s push for home detention.

After taking an overall starting point of 28 months’ jail, she allowed discounts of 35%, reducing it to 18.2 months’ jail.

Judge Saunders sentenced Allen to nine months’ home detention and disqualified him from driving for six months.

Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for 11 years and has been a journalist for 22.