drug wars  special reports pharmacology: nitrous oxide  Word on
the Street:  bolt, bullets, climax, locker room, rush, poppers,
snappers. Nitrous oxide is a mild anesthetic that is inhaled to
produce a euphoric rush followed by a reduction of pain and
inhibitions and finally, drowsiness.  What is it?  Nitrous oxide
was first synthesized in the 1700s as a colorless, almost
odorless gas with great anesthetic and pain-relieving
properties. The term "laughing gas" was coined because of the
giddy state it produced. The gas is also used as a propellant in
food aerosols. It is prepared by the action of zinc on dilute
nitric acid, by the action of hydroxylamine hydrochloride
(NH2OHxHCl) on sodium nitrite (NaNO2), and, most commonly, by
the decomposition of ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3).  In the brain:
When inhaled, Nitrous oxide produces insensibility to pain
preceded by mild hysteria, sometimes laughter.  In the body:
Nitrous oxide has little effects on body functions such as
respiration, brain blood flow, and liver,