(InvestigateTV) - Nitrous oxide abuse is leading to a spike in deaths and injuries across the United States, but the product is still being sold legally at shops and online.

Nitrous oxide, a product known as "laughing gas", is used for legitimate purposes in dental and medical offices as well as culinary and industrial settings.

But InvestigateTV and Gray affiliate stations across the country have been documenting deaths and injuries involving people who have used it as a recreational drug by inhaling the gas.