BATON ROUGE - In late October, the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office was contacted by the Louisiana Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control about canisters of nitrous oxide found inside of a warehouse at 11800 Industriplex Blvd Suite 12 and 13. The ATC was conducting an inspection for a tobacco and CBD license.

Two men connected to the warehouse were arrested, Ahad Shafiq and Asim Pervaiz.

During the check, ATC Agents found nitrogen oxide canisters in boxes. Documents found at the warehouse office listed them as “Best Whip.” There were almost 8,000 canisters of nitrous oxide, ranging in size from eight grams to 4,000 grams. Investigators also seized $304,698 from an office separate from the rest of the warehouse.

There was also an assortment of drug-related items like smoking pipes, scales, and grinders. Documents say there were other illegal narcotics hidden inside of cans.

Nitrous oxide misuse isn’t new, but recently it’s been on the rise. Websites like Walmart sell canisters marketed to enhance food.

Earlier this year, Rep. Joe Stagni (R - Kenner) authored a law that went into effect earlier this year banning the sale and use of nitrous oxide. It increased fines and made it a felony to sell or use without a license.

“It's easily accessible and low cost. [If ] you keep doing it, and doing it then you start getting respiratory symptoms - you start getting psychosis,” Stagni said about the symptoms.

Lori Anderson is an anti-drug advocate, and she says if misused, nitrous oxide can cause nerve and brain damage.

"They go by so many different names, you have laughing gas, whippets, balloons," Anderson said. “The access point is difficult to monitor, you know the ban is great, it's awesome, but again there's still access to it. That's the thing with drugs - that's why they're so scary.”