Thread by @joshuabadge

Howdy y'all! The TGA has just published their decision on whether or not poppers will be banned. So what's staying and what's changed? Let's have a look... ✨

tga.gov.au/scheduling-dec…

What's being banned: isopropyl nitrite

This specific chemical has been linked to temporary and permanent eye damage, which is why you hear folk tales of people "going blind" from poppers. A ban on this one is a good thing, we don't really want to be using a dangerous substance

What's staying the same: isoamyl nitrite, butyl nitrite, isobutyl nitrite, octyl nitrite

So the bulk of the poppers family will stay on the books as prescription only medication. This include isobutyl nitrite which is what is in most Australian poppers

https://twitter.com/joshuabadge/status/1136404773555429376

This means that to possess and use poppers legally you will need a prescription from a doctor, which can be difficult in a few ways. It can be awkward to talk about to a doctor and LGBTI folks catch stigma and flak from the medical profession

junkee.com/poppers-legal-…

The TGA actually admits that prescription only creates barriers around "patient-doctor communication and disclosure of personal circumstances". They mean it's awkies to talk about and kind of 'outs' queer patients which is good of them to recognise at least

The real question on this point is around criminalisation and policing: after so much public scrutiny and now that there's a fresh decision, how hard will the TGA, police, bouncers etc enforce the prescription only rules?

theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

What's changed: amyl nitrite

Folks, this is the gag of the decision—actual amyl has been "down scheduled" so that we'll be able to get it in a pharmacy *without* a prescription. As far as the TGA and drug regulation go this is a real win for the community

Now hold up (they don't love you like I love you), this comes with some *major* caveats. Amyl poppers will have to (i) come in child-resistant closures and (ii) will likely mean pharmacist intervention and (iii) is pharmacist-only. I'll unpack thes one by one:

(i) Child-resistant closures

How will amyl be bottled? One of the things that came up in consultation is that restrictive packaging could make poppers useless. Users need to be able to 'huff' them right? If it's a tiny opening to prevent drinking they won't be much use

(ii) Pharmacist intervention

This means you'll need to talk with a pharmacist. It means explaining why you need them etc in the public locale of a pharmacy, which is obviously going to put a lot of people off. Also, pharmacists can be real iffy about sex stuff

Just as an anecdotal example, I've copped stigma from pharmacists in Fitzroy i.e. the gaybourhood for asking about PrEP. Even if they're nice, how many folks are going to be comfortable talking with their elderly pharmacist about poppers?

(iii) Pharmacy only

This is a real problem: most people get poppers from adult stores and saunas, low key places where there is (as a rule) no stigma or judgement. They're also close to the action so to speak: if you're at a sauna at 4 AM you can't really pop off to the pharmacy

In other words, this is about accessibility. People need to be able to get poppers cheaply and whenever they need them for them to be useful. Adult stores and saunas which are open late/all night and are just a hop, skip and jump from the hookup/sling are ideal points of sale

The way forward on this is tricky: legislative exemption i.e. lobbying state Governments to pass laws saying that these other venues are allowed to sell poppers. That might work in Victoria but it won't fly in prohibitionist NSW, let alone everywhere else

So Melbourne gays: you have a slim hope. Everyone else, sorry you're shafted (haha). Which brings me to my final point: there are no amyl products available—all the Australian products are isobutyl nitrites (as mentioned above)

It could take years for manufacturers to produce new recipes and register new products, and that's only if they decide it's commercially viable in the first place. When you know your market might be spooked, is creating a product only for pharmacies commercially viable?

Amyl is on the books as pharmacy medicine from 2020 but that doesn't actually mean that there will be amyl on the shelves. There's a real chance that no manufacturer will want to spend the money to bring a product to market

Where does that leave us?

— Amyl is legal but mightn't be available for years
— Current poppers are prescription only & prescriptions are hard to get
— They can't be sold in the ideal venues i.e. saunas and adult stores anymore
— Theres the real question about policing

Today's decision is a win for regulation and better than anything orgs like THH or AFAO were holding out for. That being said, it's a bittersweet situation for users and there are certainly more hurdles we need to manage. It's not a ban but it's not a green light either 💁‍♀️