BRIDGEPORT -- The executive director of the Gathering of the Vibes wants the city to adopt an ordinance banning laughing gas at local parks, including the waterfront setting for his annual music festival.

Ken Hays told the City Council on Monday night that nitrous oxide, a euphoria-inducing gas that is shipped in large tanks from Philadelphia, the Bronx and Boston, and sold to concertgoers in balloons, has been a growing problem for years at the Vibes, a four-day music and camping festival held for the past five years at Seaside Park.

"It is a problem that is more and more prolific throughout the Northeast," Hays told the council, adding that organized dealers have become increasingly aggressive. "We need your help."

Hays said he\'s been discussing a ban on nitrous oxide with city leaders and police, including stiffer penalties for those caught possessing the substance, over a couple of years.

Nitrous oxide is a restricted substance, but not a controlled substance by state law. That means that it\'s not criminal to possess it, only to misuse it. The substance has several legal purposes, including use as a dental and surgical anesthetic; an oxidizer to increase combustion in rocket and race car engines and an aerosol can propellent.

Using the drug to get high, however, is not among the legal uses.

Hays anticipates supportive action from the council before this year\'s festival.