Many gay and bi men inhale poppers (aka. amyl nitrate or “video tape head cleaner”) as a euphoric and disorienting way to relax their throat and anal muscles for sexy times. But considering that they’re technically a drug, are they addictive?
Researchers at the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia examined this very question by surveying 800 gay and bi men between ages 18 and 35 who use poppers. By questioning each man’s “dependency characteristics, including health, social, legal and financial problems,” researchers found “no correlation between popper use and mental health or psychological stress,” common indicators of drug addiction.
Dr. Daniel Demant, a public health researcher at the University of Technology Sydney, wanted to study poppers because Australia has considered classifying them as a “prohibited substance” with the same legal status as meth and heroin.
Dr. Demant said:
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“What we see with this research is that poppers are a very commonly used drug in the LGBT community, both recently and over their lifetime. Most of the users are already oppressed or marginalized based on their social identity as gay or bisexual men. This creates a question as to whether there would have been a discriminatory element in banning a substance with such a low risk profile. Banning a substance that is used by so many people would create a new class of criminals, basically overnight.”
In other words, he’s wondering whether Aussie legislators wanted to criminalize the drug because of its association with gay and bi men. If Australia did criminalize them, it would make “overnight criminals” of over 100,000 Australian poppers users.
Related: Bless their hearts! This straight couple actually thinks they invented poppers
It seems that Australia has taken a more sensical approach by making poppers available over the counter at pharmacies. This makes sense because while poppers may not be addictive, they do come with health risks. They can dramatically lower blood pressure, decrease brain oxygenation, cause shallow breathing, blurred vision, dizziness and even fainting.
Recent surveys have shown that one-third of all gay and bi men use poppers, and straight people are using them more as well.
CenterRight
This disgusting stuff lowers people’s inhibitions and results in reckless and unsafe behaviors. It is bad for one’s health and causes gays to indulge in fantasies that they normally would find offensive. The government should keep it banned.
galileo
Awesome advice, never realised it was such good stuff, I’m off out to buy a bottle, cheers!
Cam
Except you just described Crystal Meth, not stuff that makes people light headed etc…
But it’s interesting how enraged you get at anything the LGBT community does, and yet are so sympathetic and defensive of bigots who attack us.
Vince
galileo
Wow.. Never been so interested in the stuff as I am now. Great advertisement.
CenterRight
It’s no fun to be with someone using poppers, They make the room smell bad and they ruin your bed sheets. The worse is that they somehow turn into a sex crazed subhuman. The good news is the millennials just don’t like this old stuff from the 70s and 80s.
john.k
I’m 70 and have been using poppers since my early 30s. I’m happy to say that, so far, my health is excellent. They never turned me into a sex crazed sub-human but they did enhance my enjoyment of sex.
DavidIntl
@CenterRight It certainly isn’t universally true that millennials aren’t interested in poppers. I was introduced to them by my millennial boyfriend. I find there definitely is an aphrodisiac effect – but it is fleeting, which makes the logistics of using them during sex a bit tricky. It is sad that at a time when much of the rest of the world is moving in a more libertarian direction, the newly-reelected conservative government in Australia would consider trying to prohibit something which is doing no one any great harm.
frankcar1965
Troll alert!!!!
Brian
You just wrote a great description of alcohol — which is legal and often given away unlimited and for free at weddings.
Instead of pretending to be a medical expert to fool strangers, you should spend your time looking inward and maybe reading a book or two.
Yooper
Yeah baby, yeah!
GourmetGuy
I’ve always enjoyed poppers, and wouldn’t consider discontinuing my occasional use–once or twice a week at most.
Doug
I’ve done poppers but have never understood the appeal. All it did was make me feel flushed. I had no sexual sensation whatsoever.
whitakerk861
and what does your problem have to do with poppers?
roddale
The side-effect of “blurred vision” can be more serious than many poppers users would imagine. In 2014 a paper was published in The Lancet describing a new clinical condition: poppers maculopathy.
As an optometrist working in central London I’ve seen it in about five users since that time. Vision deteriorates through damage to the retina’s photoreceptors in the very centre of users’ vision; typically they lose two to four lines of acuity (as a guide: that numberplate you could have read at forty feet you would only be capable of seeing at twenty feet). I have seen the damage reverse over a period of *years*; some users described in subsequent clinical papers have shown little improvement.
The condition has been noticed since European legislation necessitated a change in the active ingredient: from isobutyl nitrite to isopropyl nitrite. Global data for the ingredients currently in use is poor, however.
If you are going to use poppers, acquaint yourself with the actual risks. It’s admirable that the above study’s authors were considering whether poppers had an impact on mental health; I am far more concerned about their known impact on users’ vision.
Inspector 57
roddale, how many cases of maculopathy did you see in non-poppers-users in that same 5-year period?
How many of all those cases could be attributed perhaps to normal degeneration of eyesight due to aging or other factors?
frankcar1965
And yet people smoke drink are obese and have no intention of changing either. These activities are done at a far far higher rate than snorting poppers. Everybody picks their poison. Being in the UK you should be worrying about all the binge drinking that goes on there ALL the time! It is a horrible epidemic I hear.
roddale
Inspector 57: The damage that occurs is unique to the condition, discernable with scanning technology. The link between this alteration to photoreceptor cells and poppers is now quite established in subsequent studies (in fact, they believe from electroretinograms that it affects the entire retina).
Frankcar1965: I choose to worry about the conditions I might actually have a chance of doing something about.
Xtra
roddale: Yes, I have (had) this. One night having taken Cialis I inhaled poppers too deep and rapidly suddenly a mediums-dized black spot appeared in the center of my vision. It faded over the next week to an slightly green “afterglow” effect whenever I closed my eyes or blinked rapidly. Any further popper use would bring the spot back, although not as large or black. My online research revealed the enormous risk and stupidity of combining two substances that expand and constrict blood vessels at the same time (the eyes are very sensitive to blood pressure). Even now after two years, whenever I close my eyes, the very center of my vision looks lightly “different”, like a very slight overlay effect in Photoshop using 99% transparency. I believe an OCT or optical coherence tomography scan at the optometrist can show up damage to the fovea, which is the part of the retina affected by popper overuse/damage. I don’t touch poppers now, which is a shame since they definitely enhanced sexual pleasure, although I think they can be psychologically addictive rather than chemically addictive. Feel free to correct any misunderstandings I may have.)
SPEEDOSWIMMER
I am a sexual sane non-‘subhuman’ who enjoys bottoming while using poppers.
Everything in moderation…
Harley
“lower blood pressure, decrease brain oxygenation, cause shallow breathing, blurred vision, dizziness and even fainting.” I think that’s as a result of a really intense orgasm.