Addabbo clears confusion on whippits bill

Recently, there have been questions raised about a state law based upon my bill S.2819A, which bans the sale of whipped cream chargers or cartridges to anyone under 21 years old. There has been a misinterpretation of the language and intent of the bill. My bill is not intended to prevent people under the age of 21 from buying whipped cream dispensers, but the small, individual charger or cartridge inside the whipped cream canisters that is the target of this law.

The bill language specifically reads, “the term ‘whipped cream charger’ shall mean a steel cylinder or cartridge filled with nitrous oxide (N2O) that is used as a whipping agent in a whipped cream dispenser.” The language also states, “No person, corporation, partnership, limited liability company, firm or any other business entity doing business within this state shall sell or offer for sale a whipped cream charger to any person under the age of twenty-one.”

These two-inch steel cylinders contain the nitrous oxide that is dangerous when inhaled directly. They can be sold individually or in packs as refills to recharge whipped cream canisters. It is the individual charger or cartridge that is the sole target of the bill, which are accessible to younger residents and being used improperly to get the nitrous oxide high.

The empty chargers or cartridges could be found littered in areas of my district and many other communities across the state, and people have called my office directly to ask me to do something about this issue. Since the law went into effect there have been less sightings of the discarded whippit chargers or cartridges in the streets in my district.