Vigilias Wrote:Especially when you thing they use the same sort of stuff to clean VCR heads!
God forbid we should ever inhale a substance used for removing microscopic particles of dust from small and delicate machinery.
We've been here before,
http://gayspeak.com/showthread.php?t=13623.
If they're used properly (inhaled, not swallowed or used as an embrocation) by people in reasonably good health they pose no health risks. Avoid them if you've got low blood pressure or cataracts. Headaches and dizziness may occur, in which case stop inhaling.
Back in the day poppers were amyl nitrite, this formulation was made illegal in the mid nineties as a result of aids campaginers blaming them for making people have unprotected sex. There was also a campaign by aids denialists who claimed poppers caused Karposi's Sarcoma, a skin cancer prevalent among people with a compromised immune system. Some denialists still claim that poppers cause aids.
The response was the introduction of butyl nitrite, which has a longer carbon chain and is less volatile but nearly as effective. This was banned a few years back because it was found to cause cancer in rats exposed to preposterously high doses of the stuff.
Ever resourceful the manufacturers moved on to isobutyl nitrite in which the carbon chain is arranged differently. This stuff is what is presently available and is frankly rubbish, all headache and no rush. It fails to do the trick entirely.
It isn't illegal (in the UK) to posess or manufacture butyl nitrate, only to sell it. So if you can get the ingredients you can make it (not recommended, strong acid involved). Amyl nitrite is illegal, both to manufacture and posess; though if you can fake a heart attack the paramedics may administer some and if you're quick you may be able to manage a swift wank while their backs are turned.
If you don't like the stuff, you don't like it so don't use it. It seems that in two cases here people had it administered without their consent and without warning. If people are doing this with it then it's hardly surprising it gets a bad reputation.