Poppers Penetrate Dance Floors, Bedrooms, Sex Parties... And Now Mainstream Culture. Why Aren't They Regulated?
Poppers—which aren't legally allowed to be sold for recreational use in the U.S.—remain unregulated. Because of this, it’s not always clear what users are inhaling.
When Patrick Wyatt uses poppers, he makes sure he has three hours handy before sitting down to masturbate with the drug.
“I usually have a variety of bottles next to me,” Wyatt says, describing his masturbation routine. “I kind of have a mix of things that I do during my sessions.”
The 57-year-old Colorado native has cycled through many different brands of poppers, including Super RUSH, RUSH ZERO, and French Premium Amyl.
He says his popper of choice is the Chicago-based Video Head Cleaner, a brand he describes as the “best and strongest” in the U.S. He also likes AM Maxx, a brand he orders on Etsy from Latvia that he says gives a “smooth hit.”
Poppers are a slang term referring to the recreational drug made with a chemical group of nitrites. The substance, typically inhaled, increases blood flow and offers a temporary euphoric feeling, lasting no longer than two minutes per hit. For over half a century, the drug has been most popular among men who have sex with men, in part because it is a muscle relaxant, which can make receiving anal sex easier and more pleasurable.
While the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not regulate poppers, they released an article in 2021 titled “Ingesting or Inhaling Nitrite "Poppers" Can Cause Severe Injury or Death.”
“Make no mistake, ingesting or inhaling poppers seriously jeopardizes your health,” Judy McMeekin, a Pharm. D., Associate Commissioner for Regulatory Affairs, says in the article. She adds that poppers can damage the skin or other tissues they come in contact with, and they may cause difficulty breathing, extreme drops in blood pressure, decreases in blood oxygen levels, seizures, heart arrhythmia, coma and death. “Do not ingest or inhale under any circumstances,” states the FDA release.
Despite these warnings, use of poppers has become increasingly prevalent in pop culture and in mainstream media. Gay, Australian pop star Troye Sivan’s song “Rush”—a title inspired by the popular poppers brand of the same name—hit number 77 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2023. A 2020 study found that 3.3% of adults in the U.S. have used poppers, with over one-third of gay men having tried the drug. Some companies have cashed out with poppers-themed products, like Pander Shirts’ slate of Rush-themed merchandise and Boy Smells “Citrush” candle.
Poppers—which are available in many bodegas, gas stations and smoke shops across the U.S., are only legally allowed to be sold as cosmetic products like nail polish remover. They remain unregulated by the FDA, making it not always clear as to what users are inhaling.
“There’s no real way, unless you’re testing the poppers bottle, to [tell what’s in them],” Perry Halkitis, the dean of the School of Public Health at Rutgers University, told Uncloseted Media.
Since there is no mandate when it comes to the ingredients in poppers, different brands contain varying forms of nitrites, including amyl nitrite, butyl nitrite or similar substances that lower blood pressure and raise heart rate when inhaled.
“I can tell subtleties between brands, how they smell, how they hit. Some hit a little lighter and last longer, and some hit like a freight train with great intensity,” Wyatt told Uncloseted Media.
“There are different manufacturers creating different products under different names and using different chemical ingredients and solvents,” says Halkitis. “The minute the manufacturing and distribution of drugs becomes non-regulated, then you get the situation you’re in.”
According to the 2021 note by the FDA, “manufacturers are packaging and labeling these products in a way that may mislead consumers into thinking the poppers are safe or intended to be inhaled or ingested by drinking.”
“These don’t come with ‘how to use’ instructions,” says Halkitis, adding that the shortage of guidance is leading some to drink the substance.
This lack of regulation has been compounded by misinformation surrounding the drug. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, has falsely claimed poppers may be linked to HIV and AIDS.
Poppers entered the party scene in the 1960s. The product was available over-the-counter as a treatment for angina, a form of chest pain often caused by coronary heart disease. Following its rise in recreational use, the drug’s manufacturer, Burroughs-Wellcome, asked the FDA in 1969 to take amyl nitrites off pharmacy shelves and instead opt for prescription-only access. Since then, you can only get regulated poppers from your doctor for angina or similar cardiovascular conditions.
Due to this prescription-only access, unregulated manufacturers of poppers filled the supply gap for consumers looking to use them recreationally.
“The problem nowadays is that there seems to be on the market some versions of poppers that are packed with other solvents,” says Halkitis. He says products like acetone and paint thinners—which can have serious health implications—have been found in some poppers bottles.
For Wyatt, this results in different aftereffects from the various strains he uses. “A lot of American brands that I started using were worse as far as coughing the next day,” he says in reference to his experience with popular poppers brands like Rush or Jungle Juice.
“[European brands] just don't seem to have the side effects that a lot of American brands have,” he says.
In some European countries, poppers are legal for recreational use. Following a blanket ban on nitrites in France, poppers became legal in 2013. Other countries like the United Kingdom and Germany allow the sale of the drug as a cosmetic but not for consumption—similar to the legal framework in the U.S.
Some users may experience a headache, nausea or vomiting, eye damage and dermatitis upon use. Long-term use of poppers may cause bronchitis and brain damage.
Despite this, Halkitis says using poppers is still less harmful than other popular party drugs. “I’d rather see folks doing [poppers] than drugs like meth, K and G,” he says. K, or ketamine, and G, or GHB, are two drugs with high rates of use among gay and bisexual men, according to research on drug use in the LGBTQ community.
In rare instances, some users become dependent on poppers. There are an array of Reddit threads discussing the issue.
“I've poured them out many, many times saying ‘okay, no more. I'm done,’ only to buy more 2-3 days later,” one user on Reddit posted to the thread r/addiction.
“The side effects of poppers destroyed my health: wrecked immune system, permanent damage to my vision, tinnitus and the worst of all a deep depression, eternal fatigue and slow thinking and problems with concentration,” another user on r/popperpigs posted. “They are so addictive.”
Halkitis says the biggest health risk with poppers is for those who consume the drug in different, more dangerous ways. “If you're going to be using a harm reduction perspective and don't want to get sick, the danger for poppers that are cut with other solvents is really with huffing it.”
Some heavy poppers users, like Wyatt, have made a habit of huffing the drug for a stronger hit. “You put some cotton balls in poppers and put them in a Gatorade bottle and then inhale from the bottle,” he says. “Every hit I take, I have to huff and hold.”
Wyatt says that he only experiences negative symptoms from poppers when using very high doses. “Say I went three or four days in a row and long sessions with lots of huffing, then I would feel some irritation and some phlegm and a little bit of a cough too,” he says. “But it doesn’t seem to be as bad as when I was using those other [American] brands earlier on,” he says.
Halkitis says users should act with careful judgment when consuming the drug. “It’s like anything else in life,” he says. “It just has to be used carefully and in moderation. Using it is not a bad thing and [we] shouldn't make it a bad thing. But overusing it and abusing it is when the problem occurs.”
Jay Sosa, associate professor of gender, sexuality and women’s studies at Bowdoin College, says a lack of regulations could have homophobic undertones. He says that there exists a large discrepancy in the public’s perception of sexual health and drugs that boost sexual performance. “Why is [Viagra] seen as therapeutic and kind of something to get men hard?” Sosa told Uncloseted Media. “But to have anal receptive sex is not considered something that is important to men's normal sexuality.”
The FDA declined an interview with Uncloseted Media for this story and, in lieu of offering a comment, pointed us to their article from 2021.
Sosa says that regulations would create a market with safer poppers products. "The questions around safety are questions that the pharmaceutical industry could easily answer” if they decided to regulate the drug.
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The popper situation is disgusting. Throughout the nation, I’ve witnessed unscrupulous adult stores and theaters peddle this menace to the gay and bisexual male population. Even while their noses are dripping blood, they just keep inhaling until the bottle is empty. I refuse to associate with these people.
Be careful what you wish for. Asking for regulation of a product the FDA has said “Can Cause Severe Injury or Death,” is asking for more scrutiny, and ultimately a ban.