"Poppers" Link to HIV Prompts Call for Warnings in San Francisco

A Board of Supervisors' panel has recommended that the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) and the district attorney's office revive health warnings about "poppers," a chemical inhalant whose use as a sexual stimulant has been shown to increase the risk of HIV transmission. The resolution, which will go before the full board on Monday, requests that a letter be sent to the SFDPH and the district attorney asking that merchants selling poppers be required to post warnings about health hazards. "It's about having the education material there, and allowing people to make an informed decision," said board President Tom Ammiano, who proposed the resolution.

Poppers have been linked to immune suppression and to the AIDS-related skin cancer Kaposi's sarcoma, and they raise the risk of HIV transmission. In the 1980s, health officials banned their use in public places and required merchants to post warnings about their dangers. But the warnings disappeared in the late '80s and early '90s, and no one seems to know why. Often labeled video head cleaner or leather cleaner, poppers are still sold at adult bookstores and on the Internet. And despite posted rules, poppers continue to be used at Bay Area gay bathhouses, activists said.

"The fact is, rates of HIV infection are increasing among men who have sex with men," said James Loyce, deputy director of health for SFDPH AIDS programs. "We know unprotected sex goes up when you mix poppers or other drugs together. It's a lethal cocktail." Loyce would like to see the new ordinance include language requiring businesses that sell poppers to provide free condoms.

AIDS activists at the Monday meeting of the Board of Supervisors Health and Environment Committee said poppers appear to be staging a comeback. But Steve Gibson, co-executive director of the Stop AIDS Project, said increased awareness "is going to have to be a movement based in the community. 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."

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