Internet sales of whippet cartridges are a growing problem that has resulted in the death of at least one nitrous user. Sold under the guise of whipped cream propellants and erotic aids, whippets are frequently sold alongside crackers, balloons, and other drug paraphernalia that make their intended use fairly clear.

In 1999, a 20-year-old Virginia Polytechnic Institute student suffocated to death after inhaling nitrous purchased through one of these online merchants, the now-defunct Bongmart.com. Although the web site marketed the nitrous "for food use only," investigators with the FDA's Office of Criminal Investigations (OCI) said it was clear that the intended use was for nitrous intoxication. The merchant was convicted of delivering a misbranded drug into interstate commerce.