Sniffing out the truth about poppers

published on September 21, 2021 by Kevin Hurren in Xtra Magazine

Poppers are having a moment.

No, not just because Erin O’Toole, the Conservative Party leader, unexpectedly talked them up at an election presser last month. Rather, O’Toole and his party’s newfound support for these little bottles of nitrate are the political ripple of a broader cultural wave—one that sees poppers, a substance most commonly associated with queer nightlife and sex, move into the limelight.

From a memeable reference in the latest season of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars to celeb user confessions (Sam Smith, Lena Dunham, Nicole Scherzinger), poppers are in the zeitgeist, but not with universal endorsements. Earlier this summer, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration tweeted about poppers for the first time ever, and their message was clear: don’t buy them, don’t use them…