Hurry up.
The shops up and down Santa Monica Avenue ran on the iconic red and yellow vials this week as the FDA cracked Poppers, a product that has long been legally present.
The active ingredient in Rush and other Poppers is alkyl nitrite, a chemical that dilates blood vessels as it is inhaled, creating a brief and intense euphoric feeling. It also causes loosening of smooth muscle tissue, including the anus, which makes it a staple of homosexual genders passed down from generation to generation.
Although the FDA is officially banned for human consumption, Poppers are sold publicly in nail polish discharge, liquid fragrance or VHS tape cleaners, thumb-sized bottles sold in blinking and nodding.
But after the FDA raided a popular brand called Double Scorpio this month, many feared that the Trump administration would end the era of tolerance.
Many retailers say competitor brands such as Pig Sweat, Brown Bottle and Dumb Bitch Juice have also become scarce within days of the two Scorpio raids.
“People are calling to ask if we are out,” said Sandy, a cashier at Smoke 4, who only gave her a name because she had no right to talk to the press. “They are in stock. Now, we limit it to 10 at a time, just to keep it fair.”
There are similar buying frenzys across the country, with some fearing the federal government opening up to new fronts in the wider movement of LGBTQ+ people.
“It’s very popular for the community,” said Edward, a clerk at West Hollywood Books Circus, who declined to give his last name, citing concerns about the legality of the drug since the FDA raid. “If it were taken out, they didn’t know what was next.”
According to a report from the Journal of Psycharative of Psychocative of Possipative Drugs, about one-third of gay men use Poppers, and about 20% have used them in the past three months.
“I describe it as a muscle relaxant,” Edward said. “This helps people who are more sensitive to their bodies to have anal sex.”
The bottles are popular enough to enjoy the pride of the place next to the cash register and get the highest billing on the Instagram grid of the Book Circus. However, no one asked Poppers to get them.
“You can call it a lot, but you can’t call it pop music,” said Jay Sosa, an associate professor of gender, sex and women’s studies at Bowden College in Maine.
Everett Farr III is a long-time maker of nail polish removers, considered a pioneer in rebranding. He noted that several crackdowns have occurred in the past and warned that an FDA raid does not necessarily articulate the outcome.
“This is not my first rodeo,” Fal said. “I have pursued it before.”
But for many people, this moment feels different.
Trump has taken action on a range of gay and transgender issues, blocking gender-affirming therapy for children and veterans, effectively halting the global HIV prevention program, and severely cuts to HIV therapy centers for disease control and prevention, which will succumb to domestic efforts to end the disease.
“If that’s the weather, [the crackdown on poppers] It’s lightning bolts,” said Adam Zmith, author of Adam Zmith, “Deep Sniff, the history of Poppers and Queer Futures. ” “It is designed to be daunting. ”
Experts from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the myth has gained new traction online recently.
The FDA will not answer questions about the double split bust last Thursday, nor will it determine whether other nitrite manufacturers are targeting or when.
But by Monday, major players including Pac-West Distributing and Nitro-Solv had canceled their websites or replaced them with banners, and they said they were no longer operating. Brown Bottle did not respond to phone calls and emails to post comments. Double Scorpio co-founder Julian Bendaña turned the question to his lawyer, who did not respond immediately.
“We don’t have a lot of information to share, but we think the FDA has taken similar actions against other companies recently,” Double Scorpio announced on its website.
Aminonitrite emerged in the 19th century as an early treatment for chest pain and asthma attacks. They were made on the counter in the 1960s and were then sent back by prescriptions at the manufacturer’s request, according to a 2024 California Law Review paper.
Amyl is replaced by other alkyl nitrites, which are still sold today in many of the same brands in intercourse vitreous. In the 1970s, Poppers were a common club drug. In the 1980s, their use was limited to gay people, thanks in part to suspicion that hung on them during the AIDS epidemic. By 1990, they were illegally used for human consumption.
Then in the 1990s, Farr took over Rush’s trademark. Since then, he has become an expert in how to sell and sell safely within the scope of the law.
“I made completely legal products,” he said. “Some people don’t understand the law and how to comply with the law.”
Since the pandemic, alkyl nitrite has once again become popular among club crowds, moving from adult shops to main shops and even corner shops.
The Double Scorpio brand has a smooth packaging, hip social media presence and the kindness LGBTQ has to help new users.
“They really fostered a queer community,” said Zmith, author of “Deep Sniff”.
Double Scorpio is officially sold as a “leather cleaner” and also has the flavor of pumpkin spice.
“Double Scorpios are three different nitrites,” said Edward, a West Hollywood clerk, a nitrite sommelier. “It’s very popular because it has a fragrance.”
Sellers and experts say inhalers are also growing in popularity, many of whom consider it a safer alternative to marijuana and alcohol.
“Many girls use it before they go to parties,” Edward said. “It’s a high body, but it doesn’t affect your mindset like marijuana.”
It is also widely available and can be purchased with Apple Pay.
“It’s a cheap, easy, legal high,” Zmith said.
But there is little information about what the substance is or how it is adopted. As it enters new markets, problems arise.
“We are seeing an increase in intake-related poisoning,” said Dr. Joseph J. Palamar, associate professor of population health at NYU Langone Health.
Sniffing alkyl nitrites can cause skin irritation, dizziness, hypotension, headaches and other unpleasant side effects. Drinking them (even in small amounts) can lead to a blood poisoning that makes the victim blue due to sudden hypoxia.
“Even a few drops are enough to make you sick,” Palamar said.
The FDA first warns consumers not to confuse Poppers in 2021.
By 2024, the issue is significant enough that the City’s Department of Health and Mental Health begins to distribute signs to Bodegas, which sell them.
Nonetheless, intake poisoning has only really occurred in recent months, and it has been enough recently that federal authorities are unlikely to respond to them, experts say. In the original numbers, they are small.
By contrast, many public health experts fear that the massive crackdown on Poppers would force underground markets to divert users to risky drugs, just like in raids before 2013.
“It can hurt people,” said Timothy Hall, Ph.D., an anthropologist at UCLA who specializes in HIV and addiction. “Suppressing the supply of American pop music is more likely to prompt people to seek more dangerous options.”
Sosa said the FDA took the same stance in 1987. Despite extensive evidence that the compound is being used illegally (including as part of a long-term trademark battle against robbery in federal courts), the FDA often chooses to ignore it.
Now, the policy may be over, and many people are worried.
“People don’t want to touch it,” Zmith said. “A lot of people don’t want to talk about anal sex, they don’t want to do political rhetoric that defends anal sex.”
Amid uncertainty, some sellers soared prices. There are more things to get preemptive products from the shelves. The clerk of Rough Trade Gear of Silver Lake claims that the store has never sold alkyl nitrites, despite the store promoting Poppers on Instagram.
The rest is just selling their remaining inventory.
“I’m waiting for an order,” Sandy said, Smoked 4-few clerk. “We’ll see what I get.”
