How do nitrite poppers affect health?
Lauritsen: Poppers are an extraordinarily toxic drug. They cause brain damage from strokes, severe skin burns and heart failure. They suppress the immune system and damage the lungs. They’ve caused death from a single use. They’re such an effective poison that they’ve been used to commit suicide and murder. The nitrites are strongly mutagenic, which means they cause cellular change and genetic mutation. Nitrites produce deadly toxins when mixed with commonly used chemicals like antihistamines, artificial sweeteners and painkillers. Virtually all antibiotics are converted into potent carcinogens by nitrites. Why were poppers legal? Lauritsen: Poppers were originally manufactured by the Burroughs-Wellcome Corp. as a remedy for emergency heart pain, but they were replaced by nitroglycerine. In the ’60s, only a few gay men used poppers as a recreational drug. Poppers found new life during the Vietnam War, sold on the black market to soldiers overseas. When the soldiers came home, they kept
