Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2001. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
San Francisco Chronicle - Thursday, October 25, 2001
Christopher Heredia, Chronicle Staff Writer
"It's about having the education material there, and allowing people to make an informed decision," said Board of Supervisors President Tom Ammiano, whose resolution will go to the full board Monday.
The resolution requests that a letter be sent to the Health Department and the district attorney's office asking that merchants selling amyl nitrate, known as "poppers," be required to post warnings about health hazards. In the 1980s, health officials banned the use of poppers in public places and required merchants to post warnings about their dangers. Poppers have been linked to immune system suppression and to the development of Kaposi's sarcoma, an AIDS-related skin cancer.
Research has shown that poppers bring more blood vessels to the surface of the skin during sex, putting one at greater risk for acquiring HIV. Although heterosexuals also use poppers, some gay men say they use them because they relax muscles and reduce pain during sex.
The warnings about their use disappeared sometime in the late '80s to early '90s, and no one seems to know why. Now poppers are sold at adult bookstores under the label Video Head Cleaner or Leather Cleaner, as well as on the Internet.
AIDS activists say poppers are frequently used -- despite posted rules against drug use -- at gay bathhouses in the Bay Area.
"The fact is, rates of HIV infection are increasing among men who have sex with men," said James Loyce, deputy director of health for AIDS Programs at the San Francisco Department of Public Health. "We know unprotected sex goes up when you mix poppers or other drugs together. It's a lethal cocktail." Loyce said he would also like to see the new ordinance include language requiring businesses that sell poppers to provide free condoms, one means of reducing the risk of HIV transmission.
AIDS activists attended Monday's Board of Supervisors Health and Environment Committee to voice their concerns over popper use, which they said appears to be staging a comeback.
"Selling poppers without a warning is the equivalent of selling cigarettes without a health warning," said Survive AIDS member Jeff Getty. "We're at where we were in the '40s, in the new millennium, with this product." A San Francisco ordinance in the 1980s called for misdemeanor penalties for any business that did not post health warnings about amyl nitrate or sold it to minors. Ammiano said he would like to revive the penalties for violating the posting requirements.
The Eros sex club in San Francisco banned poppers several months ago over health concerns and after customers complained about the drug's noxious pesticide odor and about the broken glass from the vials in which it is sold. "They're unsafe," said Eros manager Raleigh Raganas, adding that staff members are sent around the club to enforce the ban.
Raising awareness "is going to have to be a movement based in the community, " said Steve Gibson, co-executive director of the Stop AIDS Project in the Castro. "If guys perceive that Tom Ammiano or Survive AIDS are telling them they can or can't do something, that is sure to be met with resistance. You have to involve the stakeholders, the guys who use poppers and the businesses that sell them . . . and provide condoms."
Mike Nash, general manager of Steamworks, a bathhouse for gay and bisexual men in Berkeley, said he would welcome similar warnings.
"We want people to make smart decisions while they're here," Nash said. E-mail Christopher Heredia at cheredia@sfchronicle.com.
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