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ORDINANCE NO. NS-3079 <br /> AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF <br /> SANTA ANA ADDING ARTICLE XIV TO CHAPTER 10 OF <br /> THE SANTA ANA MUNICIPAL CODE (CRIMES AND <br /> MISCELLANEOUS LAW ENFORCEMENT PROVISIONS) <br /> PROHIBITING THE SALE OR DISTRIBUTION OF NITROUS <br /> OXIDE <br /> WHEREAS, the City of Santa Ana (City) is empowered pursuant to California <br /> Constitution, Article XI, Section 7 to make and enforce within its limits all local, police, <br /> sanitary, and other ordinances and regulations not in conflict with general laws; and <br /> WHEREAS, the City is specifically empowered by the California Health and Safety <br /> Code, Section 101450, as may be hereafter amended or renumbered, to take measures <br /> as may be necessary to preserve and protect the public health, including the adoption of <br /> ordinances, regulations, and orders not in conflict with the general laws; and <br /> WHEREAS, Nitrous Oxide is an odorless, colorless chemical that can be inhaled <br /> for legitimate purposes associated with medical or dental procedures in a clinical setting, <br /> and is legitimately used for industrial purposes and as a propellant for food products; and <br /> WHEREAS, Nitrous Oxide is also subject to recreational misuse and abuse, in <br /> part, because it is easy to purchase from retail vendors and relatively inexpensive; and <br /> WHEREAS, the recreational misuse and abuse of Nitrous Oxide can cause <br /> permanent vitamin deficiencies in the blood, and can cause long-term neurological <br /> effects, including paralysis and death; and <br /> WHEREAS, the incidence of Nitrous Oxide recreational misuse and abuse has <br /> been on the rise within the county, nationally, and internationally over the past decade, <br /> with multiple medical studies noting significant increases in recreational misuse in the <br /> past five years, as well as a broader medical understanding of the long-term <br /> hematological and neurological impacts of Nitrous Oxide misuse and abuse; and <br /> WHEREAS, the City does not currently regulate the sale of Nitrous Oxide and finds <br /> and declares that in the absence of local regulation, Nitrous Oxide remains subject to <br /> significant risk of misuse and abuse through sale to individuals who intend to misuse or <br /> abuse the product; and <br /> WHEREAS, the City desires to regulate the sale of Nitrous Oxide in order to <br /> preserve and protect public health and to dissuade sellers of Nitrous Oxide products from <br /> selling to individuals which they know or have reason to know intend to use the products <br /> for illegal purposes (i.e., recreational ingestion and/or inhalation). <br /> Ordinance No. NS-3079 <br /> Page 1 of 5 <br />