"Poppers" Medical Background: ACT UP Fact Sheet Available

"Poppers" are nitrite inhalants, originally made for treating
certain heart conditions, which came to be used as sexual
stimulants in the gay community. Due to concern about the
dangers of long-term use, especially by people with HIV, they
were banned by Federal law in 1988 (amended in 1990, to
specify a broader class of nitrites, not just the chemical
named in the 1988 law). But manufacturers found a way around
the ban, by substituting different kinds of nitrites; these
chemicals are now widely sold in adult bookstores, sex clubs,
and bars. The result is that unknown chemicals, never tested
for human consumption, have come into widespread use with no
regulatory or public-health oversight.

For those who want an accessible summary of what is known
about the medical risks of the original poppers (no studies
have yet been done on the chemicals sold today), ACT
UP/Golden Gate has published a two-page annotated list of
studies which have been published over the last ten years.
(An earlier annotated list appeared in AIDS TREATMENT NEWS
#160, October 2, 1992). While there is no definitive proof
that poppers are harmful, they come up again and again as
associated with immune suppression, Kaposi's sarcoma, and
increased risk of HIV transmission.

It has been difficult to inform the public about the medical
risk, for two reasons. First, poppers fall between the cracks
of Federal and State drug-control agencies; nobody has wanted
to take responsibility for them. And it is difficult to get
the information into the gay press. Many of the papers
accepted advertising for poppers; most stopped when contacted
by ACT UP, but they did not tell their readers about the
risk. The huge profit margin in the business -- pennies worth
of chemical put into a small bottle can sell for about $10 --
leaves plenty of money for promotion. Incidentally, ACT
UP/Golden Gate is not calling for new laws against poppers;
its effort, instead, is to get medical information to the
public.

For a copy of the fact sheet, send a self-addressed stamped
envelope to: Committee to Monitor Poppers, ACT UP/Golden
Gate, 519 Castro Street, San Francisco, CA 94114.