- Poppers are liquid inhalants,
occasionally sold as air fresheners
or VHS cleaner.
And many of us gay men sniff them.
A survey found that 69% of gay men in Toronto,
where I happen to live,
have used poppers at least once,
with a newer study finding that 1.5%
of American adolescents use poppers,
irregardless of sexual orientation.
Straight people are sniffing poppers too,
the future is now.
So what exactly is happening
to your body when you sniff these chemicals
and why are gay men huffing air freshener?
- Gay rights!
- One to three seconds after you sniff poppers
and the physical effects have already set in,
as the chemicals go right into your bloodstream.
Sniffing drugs causes chemicals
to pass through the nasal cavity,
right into the bloodstream,
where they go to your heart
and your brain first.
This is why sniffing drugs can be so dangerous.
When you drink or eat drugs,
they get digested and absorbed
into your blood through the GI tract,
where they then go to the liver
to be metabolized first.
When you sniff something,
it doesn't get to go
to your liver to be metabolized,
it goes right to your heart and your brain,
which are v important organs.
Your brain has an integral blood brain barrier.
This is a membrane that
only lets certain things in.
Poppers can not pass through
your blood-brain barrier,
which is a very good thing,
but they still have an effect on your brain.
The chemical in poppers
is known as isobutyl nitrate,
and for all you org chem heads,
the chemical looks like this.
This chemical can affect your blood vessels.
Normally, blood vessels maintain a state
halfway between contraction and dilation,
but neuronal or chemical stimuli can change this.
For example, vasopressin is a natural hormone
that constricts blood vessels.
Histamine can vasodilate.
Poppers, when sniffed,
use their chemical properties
to dilate blood vessels in your body.
Now, the concept of sniffing nitrites
was invented by this horny French guy in 1844.
Not sure if he was horny,
but he did (snaps) kind of invent poppers.
Gay rights.
He found out that amyl nitrites
could treat angina.
Now, angina is a constriction
of blood vessels around the heart,
which causes a lot of pain.
So what he got people to do in the late 1800s
was literally pop the casing of amyl nitrates,
that's where the word "pop" comes from,
huff the amyl nitrites,
which would call vasodilation around the heart,
and decrease the pain from the angina attack.
Yes, these olden day people were huffing poppers.
I said it, now I'll say that again,
say gay rights.
But now back to modern day poppers,
which are isobutyl nitrite, not amyl nitrite.
10 to 20 seconds after sniffing
and now the isobutyl nitrites
have traveled through the nasal cavity
to some cerebral vessels in the brain,
where they chemically cause vasodilation.
Vasodilation of the cerebral vessels
causes increased intracranial pressure
that produces a euphoric high,
leading to feelings of loosened inhibitions,
warmth, and calmness.
10 to 30 seconds after a huff, huff,
and the isobutyl nitrites are now passing easily
into your smooth muscle cells.
Once in the smooth muscle cells,
they activate enzymes that cause relaxation
and vasoilation.
Since there are smooth muscle cells
in your throat, vagina, also known as vagine,
and the anuse, also known as anus,
the vasodilation of these specific
smooth muscle cells is why poppers
are used to aid in sex.
The vasodilation of the internal
and external sphincters of the anus
are one of the reasons why gay men use poppers.
Because famously,
us gay men like to have anal sex.
Just one minute after sniffing the poppers
and the euphoric feeling in your brain is gone
and you now have a body with low blood pressure.
Your heartbeat may start to increase
to make up for the low blood pressure.
People say that they feel very flushed
around their neck and face.
They get headaches.
It honestly doesn't sound that fun
and this is only one minute later.
Two to three minutes after sniffing,
and most of the biochemical effects are fully over.
It all happens so fast.
Some people now experience nausea,
weakness, or even a yellow spot
in front of their eyes,
which are common symptoms
of the low blood pressure strain
your body is now under.
I keep thinking about people
watching this on YouTube
and being like, "What the heck
is this guy talking about?
Is he speaking jibberish?
Is it dangerous?"
And sadly, there is not much research
on the danger of this,
because like most of scientific history,
the queer community is getting ignored.
Whether it's about our own sexual health,
like in this case, or the history of HIV,
where scientists just ignored it
'cause it was only affecting gay men.
Or just the fact that queer experiences
get left out of mostly all of social science.
In this long tradition,
there are not very many studies
about the longterm effects of poppers.
And we need more research on this
because it can be very dangerous,
because people are actually using these drugs
with increasing popularity.
And now there might be studies on it
because the straights are coming for it.
Thank you straights.
Whenever you swoop in,
the scientists seem to listen.
Ding.
So, too high a concentration
of nitrites in the bloodstream
can cause a fatal condition
where hemoglobin in red blood cells
is unable to carry oxygen to the rest of the body,
including the brain, leading to brain failure.
This is why it's very dangerous
to combine vasodilators
like Viagra and Cialis with poppers.
And these are all drugs
that people are using during sex,
so I think the likelihood
of them happening together is increased
and that freaks me out.
Drinking poppers is also extremely dangerous
and when it touches your skin
it can burn and cause a rash,
which makes me just think
from like a biochemical perspective,
that sniffing the stuff can't be good.
I personally would appreciate
a lot more studies on this,
as we are now seeing surveys,
including one done in Toronto,
that this is been becoming
a very culturally popular drug to do.
On top of that,
these are sold mostly as air fresheners,
VHS cleaner, like do people use VHS's anymore?
Like, come on.
And legalizing it is important,
because unregulated poppers
can be extremely dangerous.
And it is a very contested issue in queer sex.
With all aspects of sex
it's very important that we speak openly
and proudly about it.
And sex, life, you know, they're intertwined.
They're very important. I don't know what this is,
but it's kinda a little bit sexy.
(mumbling)
Thank you so much for watching.
We will see you next week for a new video.
Peace (click tongue).