The New Normal? When Getting High on Whipped Cream is a Crisis

Remember when whipped cream was just a sweet, fun, topping?

I remember the moment vividly. It was almost five years ago, during my time in rehab for alcoholism. I was living in a recovery house with 14 women of all ages when our house manager announced she was going food shopping. I made what I thought was a simple request: “Can you pick up some whipped cream for the celebration party?”

The reaction caught me off guard.

"Whipped cream is off limits."

I was confused. How could something so ordinary, something meant for desserts and coffee, be banned?

That’s when I learned about nitrous oxide—laughing gas—the same substance young people were inhaling by the hundreds of canisters a day, frying their brains and destroying their nervous systems. I had been oblivious. But the fact that something so seemingly innocent could fuel a dangerous addiction? It only confirmed what I was already beginning to suspect in my new recovery reality:

We live in an upside-down world.

A Crisis Disguised as a Treat

Recently, the family of a 29-year-old woman, Margaret Caldwell, filed a lawsuit against nitrous oxide manufacturers, smoke shops, and distributors. Caldwell, like so many others, thought she wasn’t doing anything wrong. She wasn’t buying drugs from a shady dealer—she was purchasing something legal, something easy to find, something wrapped in colorful, fun-looking packaging.

She inhaled nitrous oxide hundreds of times a day. It destroyed her mind and body. It killed her.

Yet the companies making these products market them under a culinary loophole. They know exactly what they’re doing. It’s no coincidence that these canisters are sold in smoke shops, decorated like candy, and flavored like bubblegum.

But this is just another example of a world that tells us that self-destruction is fun. That getting high is “no big deal.” That if it’s sold in a store, it must be safe.

It’s just another symptom of a larger sickness.

The Lie of Escape & The Truth of Recovery

I get it. I was there once, too. I used to believe drinking was just a “normal” part of life—something everyone did, something harmless. But after walking through my own personal fire, after hitting a rock bottom I never imagined, and after clawing my way out, I found something I never thought possible: a life beyond my wildest dreams.

Sober. Happy. Free.

But I also know I’m one of the lucky ones. The odds of making it to long-term sobriety are staggering—only about 9% of people who struggle with alcohol addiction ever achieve long-term recovery. Too many never get the chance. Too many believe the lie that this is just the way life is. Too many are still stuck in the cycle, trapped in a culture that normalizes addiction while shaming recovery.

The world we live in doesn’t encourage us to heal—it encourages us to numb. To run. To escape reality instead of facing it.

• Feeling stressed? Have a drink.

• Feeling anxious? Smoke this.

• Feeling overwhelmed? Pop a pill.

• Feeling sad? Take a hit, it’ll make you laugh.

  
  

And if all of that feels too hard? Well, you can always get high off whipped cream.

We’ve normalized this. We’ve wrapped self-destruction in pretty little packages and called it self-care. We’ve made alcohol pink and bubbly. We’ve made drug use “quirky.” We’ve labeled destructive behaviors as “fun.”

According to NBC News, "Often referred to colloquially as “whippets,” nitrous oxide canisters are sold in many smoke shops across the country as well as online from major retailers, with some states restricting sales to people 21 and over."

The problem isn’t just the substance—it’s the culture that keeps telling us that checking out of reality is better than dealing with it.

But that’s a lie.

True rebellion isn’t numbing out.True rebellion isn’t checking out.True rebellion is saying:

🔹 I won’t be manipulated into poisoning myself.

🔹 I won’t let a broken system dictate my mental health.

🔹 I won’t fall for this upside-down version of self-care.

True rebellion is real recovery.

And just what is "true recovery"? True recovery isn’t just about stopping drinking—it’s about healing. It’s about breaking free from the patterns, beliefs, and coping mechanisms that kept us stuck. It’s about rebuilding our lives with honesty, self-awareness, and the courage to live authentically.

Real recovery is a life of joy, freedom, and purpose—without the need to numb, escape, or self-destruct. It's the opposite of what our society says is "normal".

Searching for Normalcy in an Upside-Down World

I am currently writing a book about my life, my alcoholism and recovery, with a working title: "Searching for Normalcy" because that’s exactly what it felt like—searching. Trying to find something real, something steady, in a world that profits off of chaos and destruction.

The more I step into true recovery, the more I see just how backward everything is. When I first stopped drinking, people thought I was the one being extreme. But what’s really extreme?

Drinking myself into blackouts every night—or choosing to heal?

The same is true with drugs like nitrous oxide. There are people right now who will defend it, say it’s “harmless,” say, Who cares? But the truth is, if we don’t start questioning the way we’re being fed destruction under the guise of fun, we’ll keep losing people.

Caldwell’s family lost her because she believed the lie that her addiction wasn’t real, that she wasn’t doing anything wrong, that she was safe.

How many more people need to die before we see the truth?

The True Recovery Rebellion

Recovery isn’t just about quitting drinking or drugs. It’s about waking up. It’s about seeing the manipulation for what it is. It’s about realizing that the culture around us isn’t designed for our healing—it’s designed to keep us broken.

But we don’t have to accept that.

We can choose differently. We can demand better. We can create a new way forward.

Join the Movement: Women in the Rooms

This is exactly why I created Women in the Rooms—to give women a space to have these real conversations. Recovery isn’t just about quitting alcohol or substances; it’s about waking up, healing, and taking back our lives.

If this post resonated with you, stay tuned—I’ll be launching a private Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/womenintherooms/) where we can support, encourage, and rebel together against the things keeping us stuck.

In the meantime, drop a comment below. What are your thoughts on this? Have you or someone you know experienced the effects of nitrous oxide or seen the way our culture normalizes destructive behaviors? Let’s talk about it in the comments.

Let’s recover loudly..

Because real recovery? It isn’t weak.It’s the bravest thing you can do.

🔹🔹🔹