PARTY 'POPPERS' BACK IN VOGUE

Health Officials Raise Amyl Nitrite Risk

MONTREAL (CP) -- Party-goers seeking sexual nirvana are inhaling a
discontinued heart medication known as amyl nitrite from small, glass
bottles, despite evidence the drug could kill them.

Doses of amyl nitrite, known on the street as poppers, are sold under the
counter at some sex shops in Montreal and other major cities. They're
ingested on the gay and straight party scenes, often in combination with
other drugs such as ecstasy.

Once used to relieve pain among patients with heart problems, amyl nitrite
dilates the blood vessels and relaxes soft muscle tissue in the anus or the
vagina.

It can also prolong or intensify orgasms and increase skin sensitivity when
inhaled.

Health Canada said it's looking into reports that poppers, sold under brand
names such as Rush and Locker Room, have increased in popularity after
falling out of favour in the 1990s.

Spokeswoman Krista Apse said in an interview her department found out about
the renewed popper craze through a report in a weekly Montreal newspaper.

"We're aware of the particular substance and we're monitoring that use,"
said Apse.

The combination of poppers and ecstasy, another popular party drug, could
be deadly, according to a San Francisco study presented in 2001 at a
Centers for Disease Control conference in Atlanta.

According to media reports, three men died in California in 1998 after
taking a cocktail of Viagra, poppers and speed.

Dr. Pierre-Paul Tellier, a medical adviser on Montreal's gay party scene,
also warns poppers could harm people with pre-existing heart problems or a
susceptibility to brain aneurysms.

"It brings up your heart rate and eventually your blood pressure also pops
up," says Tellier.

DIFFICULT TO REGULATE

"If you take other drugs in co-ordination with the drug you can get a very
pronounced loss of blood pressure which can lead to cardiac problems or
even a stroke."

Poppers occupy a grey zone in Canadian law -- it's illegal to sell them as
aphrodisiacs, so they're marketed as leather cleaners, video-cassette
cleaners and even incense.

Apse said the innocuous labelling makes the products difficult to regulate.
She said it's not known whether anyone has died in Canada after misusing
poppers.

The RCMP said its hands are tied if the drugs aren't labelled as sexual
enhancers.

SMELL OF DANGER

Some facts about amyl nitrite, used to enhance the sexual experience:

Street Names: Popper, Snapper, bullet, Jac blaster, heart on, aroma of man,
Locker Room, Rush.

Classification: Hallucinogen.

Description: Small mesh-covered capsule popped or snapped open to release
intoxicating vapours.

Physical Effects: Headache, decreased blood pressure, increased pulse,
dizziness, relaxation of involuntary muscles, especially blood vessel walls
and anal sphincter.

Overdose Symptoms: Nausea, vomiting, decreased blood pressure and
respiration, fainting, coldness of the skin. Possible convulsions and death.