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  • - 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