With draconian fines and the risk of rattling behind bars, the Cypriot authorities threatened one type of tourist. First of all, we are talking about the “party city” of Ayia Napa, but other cities in Cyprus are also introducing measures. And tourists who want to supplement their vacation with “almost legal” narcotic substances are at risk of getting “under distribution” – if a tourist is caught with a can of laughing gas, punitive measures will be tough.
According to the Cypriot press, the problem is that tourists who “get acquainted” with the special effects of nitrous oxide have become a real problem for Ayia Napa and Cyprus as a whole. On the streets of the “club resort” tourists began to meet en masse, lying on the sidewalks – and even on the beaches, “puffing fumes from balloons.” At the same time, until recently, laughing gas, also known as NOS or nitrous oxide, was sold quite legally in Cyprus, but now it has become banned throughout the country.
The fashion for such an “additive” to the rest was most likely introduced by British tourists who massively go to Ayia Napa and other Cypriot resorts, “and many of them go crazy while there,” as the media add. It’s not enough for the British to just get drunk to an insane state.
Tourists have been warned that now anyone caught with laughing gas could face a fine and even jail time. Cyprus has a strict zero-tolerance policy for illegal drugs, including laughing gas.
“If you are caught with any type of drug, you will either get a prison sentence or a heavy fine. Illegal drugs are stricter than in the UK,” even the British Foreign Office officially issued such a warning.
The tourists were also told that the court case alone could take up to two years.