April 28, 2022 – The Youth Leadership Coalition, a teen program of Redwood Community Services’ Arbor Center, successfully lobbied Ukiah’s City Council to pass an ordinance banning the commercial sale of nitrous oxide canisters, known as whippets, within the city limits. Whippets, which have become a popular party drug among young people, deprive the brain of oxygen and can cause strokes, leading to death or lifelong disability. The nonbiodegradable canisters are also an environmental nuisance.
The ordinance went into effect in March, and prohibits Ukiah city businesses operating under a tobacco retailer’s license, from selling the drug. The Youth Leadership Coalition is now staged to assess the success of the mandate and plans to address the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors in an effort to bring the ordinance to a county level.