A proposed law that would make it a crime to sell nitrous oxide canisters, or whippets, to teenagers so they can get high has died in a legislative committee.

The bill was written following a Team 7 hidden-camera investigation conducted last fall. We videotaped store clerks marketing a nitrous gas delivery device called a "cracker," along with cases of inhalants and balloons to 16-year-old students.

Investigative Reporter Chris Halsne discovered that lawmakers want to make that illegal, but fiscal restraints in Olympia put a damper on plans this year.

Huffing pure nitrous oxide is dangerous and selling it to kids seems awfully risky, but in Washington, both are technically legal. We remain one of the few states that refuse to regulate nitrous or “huffing” kits.

The icy cold gas in the canisters is a neat way to make homemade whipped cream, so it might make sense that a kitchen supply store carries nitrous oxide.

However, KIRO Team 7 Investigators went undercover and noticed a new trend: a growing number of smoke shops and convenience stores are advertising nitrous kits -- not for making deserts, but to help people get high.

A pair of clerks who sold nitrous kits to our undercover teenagers explained last August why they market the materials.

"If it's not illegal, I have to sell. Otherwise, I can't make any money. "

"Some people say they can relax a little bit. (It's) for their brain. I have a customer who uses it for that. Reading or writing."

State representative Al Obrien saw our investigation and drafted a new law. The bill adds nitrous oxide to the states list of illegal inhalants (with exceptions for professionals like dentists.)

It also warns store owners they could be held liable for a civil infraction, stating "a person is guilty if he or she possesses an inhalant for the purpose of inducing intoxication to any other person."

Bob of Premium Pipes and Cigars in Lynnwood says if the proposal ever becomes law, he will stop selling openers called crackers and nitrous gas to what he calls "the party crowd."

Team 7 Investigators asked why, without the law, he would choose to keep selling the materials.

Bob told us, “Well. People ask for things like that. It makes no difference. The law is the law. OK. You don't have to do something like that. That's not the point of the business. Laws are being passed every day on tobacco.”

But Bob doesn't have to worry just yet. The nitrous bill, and hundreds of other popular bills, didn't get a hearing this year due to budget cuts.

State Representative Christopher Hurst, who chairs the House Public Safety Committee says he lost a third of his hearing time due to staff reductions.

“No matter how good the policy is, is there money to fund legislation this year?”

He vows that banning nitrous kits will make his agenda next year.

“As the story pointed out, if you can buy these crackers, that help you use the substance as an inhalant, it has no other legitimate purpose. That's where we need to strike and that's what the law needs to focus on.”

Oregon, for example, already has a nitrous ban on the books. The first time someone gets caught dealing, they get fined. The second time, they go to jail. Washington lawmakers plan to mirror that law as soon as the budget crisis gets ironed out.