BY Mike Stunson
The News Tribune (Tacoma, Wash.)
HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — A dentist was caught driving with more than 100 canisters of laughing gas in his car, and it wasn’t the first time, Texas authorities say.
The Harris County Precinct 1 Constable’s Office said 39-year-old Christopher Pedlar was speeding while driving in Houston on Feb. 9 , and the constables attempted to pull him over.
Despite Pedlar looking in his rear-view mirror while constables deployed their lights and sirens behind him, he made multiple turns before stopping after a half-mile, according to court records.
Officers then saw multiple canisters of nitrous oxide — 107 of them — that they said were “ice cold” in Pedlar’s car, court records show. They contained mouth pieces for inhaling.
Pedlar told officers “he has a problem and admitted he had been inhaling all day,” authorities said.
Nitrous oxide, also referred to as laughing gas, is odorless, colorless and non-flammable, and can affect a user’s mental state by “almost immediately” providing euphoria and numbness of the body, according to the Alcohol and Drug Foundation .
“It’s a very sad situation of becoming a professional, the very product that they use, 107 canisters is substantial, he had been using it while they were driving around,” Precinct 1 Constable Alan Rosen told KHOU.
Pedlar was issued a dentistry license in Texas in 2012, but he was not actively practicing. He was listed as an assistant professor for the University of Texas Health School of Dentistry in Houston , but his profile had been removed from the university’s website by Feb. 11 .
Court records show Pedlar was charged with eluding police and possession/use of a volatile substance.
His attorney, David Smith , told KTRK that Pedlar’s case should be “tried in a court of law and not in the media.”
Court records show Pedlar has a history involving possession of nitrous oxide. After his most recent arrest, he was out on bond “for allegedly doing the same thing,” constables said.
In December, Pedlar was arrested when 112 canisters of laughing gas were found in his vehicle.
And in 2017, Pedlar was seen “inhaling nitrous oxide through a nose mask,” leading to disciplinary action from the State Board of Dental Examiners .
Prosecutors said Pedlar is now staying at a treatment center, KHOU reported.
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