The only thing I can think of, Devinmom, is that there may have been more to the story. Not at all that the OP isn't telling the truth - just that there may have been... well....

For instance, my husband didn't grow up getting any dental care at all, much less the gas. The first time he had it was as an adult when he got his wisdom teeth pulled. He's not even a drinker, much less a drug user, so the whole experience was definitely a new sensation for him all around, and he is quite the jokester when he tells people how much he liked it.

He doesn't think of it is a *drug* or a hallucinogen - he's not especially medically inclined and all he knows is that it was the best pain control anyone with "Dr." in front of their name ever gave him - lol. It wouldn't even occur to him to ponder whether there were any dangers associated with either taking it *or* with making light of it in conversation, any more than he'd think twice about joking about the disorientation associated with having his eyes dilated.

So... I can definitely envision him cracking jokes with our boys were he to take them in for fillings. "Hey, make sure you get the gas! You'll love the spinning rainbows!"... etc.

Our kids are just about as straight-laced (but fun-loving and compassionate! ) as they come and the drug scene isn't anything they seem like they'll be drawn to, but they *would* all bond over laughing gas stories. Like I said... to them it'd rank right up there with the weird feeling you get at the eye dr. after they dilate your eyes and then send you out to look at the frames and expect that you can read the prices on those tiny tags when you aren't even sure how far off the ground you are since everything looks askew. That's worth a big chuckle... the nitrous oxide is worth a chuckle...even the bad experiences coming out of general anesthesia would be worth a chuckle and a faux warning (Hey, don't let 'em give you a triple dose of that sleeping stuff. I hear it's also a truth serum!").... but there would never be anything *seriosusly* linking street drugs and physician administered drugs in the minds of our kids.