New Rules for Australia

Topic created by Vollmilch
on Tue, 7 Jan 2020 at 08:00

Vollmilch said on Tue, 7 Jan 2020 at 08:00...

Someone was asking about the new regulations for poppers in Australia coming into force in February.

As far as I know:

1. IPN is banned
2. Poppers will only be available from a pharmacist

I have read that the pharmacist will ask the customer about what he wants poppers for - it is labeled as an intervention. As a semi-regular visitor I am quite curious. This means that I cannot buy from a store in Sydney? These kind of rules remind me of the Swiss, bit surprised by the language I read: "intervention" "therapeutic" use only etc. Maybe I am missing something, guyz?

Madeplentypoppers said on Tue, 7 Jan 2020 at 19:26...

Yes...therapeutic use means that you've got a well endowed BF and you need something to loosen you up without tearing the crap of your hole.

Madeplentypoppers said on Tue, 7 Jan 2020 at 19:28...

I don't know if the drug stores in Australia have any suppliers lined up yet. I don't know if they can import amyl nitrite....or even how it will be dosed in ampules or bottles for example.

Ro said on Tue, 7 Jan 2020 at 22:22...

Thanks for more clarification. I was interested so I did a bit more digging. I found these two articles about a year apart, they have a skeleton of the story:

August 21, 2018

*‘It’s a war on bottoms’: poppers may soon be banned in Australia pending a TGA decision**

https://www.starobserver.com.au/news/national-news/war-bottoms-poppers-may-soon-banned-australia-pending-tga-decision/171262
"Frankly, it’s all just part of the War on Drugs, the War on Pleasure, and the War on Bottoms."

June 10, 2019

*Australia’s decision not to ban poppers is a win for sensible drug policy, but the stigma remains**

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jun/10/australias-decision-not-to-ban-poppers-is-a-win-for-sensible-drug-policy-but-the-stigma-remains

"The TGA has banned a substance called isopropyl nitrite which researchers have linked to rare but severe cases of maculopathy (ie eye damage), which are the origin of dance club folktales of people “going blind” from poppers. Banning this chemical is a smart move: whether it’s a therapeutic or recreational drug, users want a safe product.

Meanwhile, a handful of other alkyl nitrites will remain on the books as prescription-only medications. This includes isobutyl nitrite, which TGA lab tests suggest is the main ingredient in most Australian poppers. This means that users need a prescription to possess and use poppers they have at the moment."
....
"Amyl might be pharmacy medicine from 2020 but that doesn’t mean there will be anything on the shelves. Registering new products is prohibitively expensive for businesses and could take years. This situation leaves users in limbo in that prescriptions are hard to obtain and, even if you have one, there is a deficit of options."

I was unable to find anything more recent than that so maybe it's out of date? it is not in agreement with your understanding. I don't know in what world this plan amounts to "sensible drug policy" when it is very clearly a solution in need of a problem.

Going by the Guardian article:

It sounds like the government is trying to regulate poppers out of existence. *Technically* legal but impossible to obtain in practicality. From what I read it sounds like the status quo is so far they have been available in sex shops and other traditional spots. Those places will now be subject to raids and busts as selling them would constitute whatever the local equivalent of prescribing/dispensing a mediation without a license. In most places that is heavily illegal.

Meanwhile in Canada: later in the week I'm going to go see my favourite hookup. He is calling his "poppers dealer" to sort us out. That kind of silliness might be in your future.

I hope I am wrong about my understanding of this situation! :-(

Vollmilch said on Wed, 8 Jan 2020 at 09:14...

As I read the confusing Swiss-style regs it says poppers will not be subject to a prescription. So I guess it will be like selling acne lotion or something. With the difference that the guy behind the counter doesn't give you a talking to. Weird. I think we have it wrong, Ro. I cannot believe this is a realistic way of proceeding.

Ntbiman min said on Tue, 14 Jan 2020 at 05:35...

I have emailed theSatr Observer and the Oz Guardian to suggest a follow up article.
On E possibility which comes to mind is that if we do get a therapeutic supply through pharmacies we may get a consistent high quality product and no more need to talk about "what I used to huff back in the day" and nostalgia for the lost magical formulae of yore.
Indeed there could be an export market for ""Aussie Amyl", verified as meeting the TGA standard and marketed by an enterprising manufacturer.

NTBiman said on Tue, 14 Jan 2020 at 06:46...

A further thought....the easy route for the pharmacists will be to start selling poppers again, ie sold in the original glass tubes from which amyl got its nickname.
These are still available on prescription, at least in the USA.
https://www.james-alexander.com/pdf/amyl-nitrite-inhalants.pdf

Presumably these would be acceptable to the TGA and make it easy to arrange supply.....I daresay there is a container on its way across the Pacific already, did we but know it.

Perhaps someone who knows a gay pharmacist could make some enquirers and report here?

I would like to be able to go to my GP and ask for a script for butyl nitrite and be able to direct him to a reference to tell him how to write it appropriately, but so far I can't find one. And I don't know if I would be allowed to import it if I had such a script.

Note that the product information for the product above says to refrigerate, not freeze. I keep mine in the freezer...does anyone know if this does more harm than good?

Vollmilch said on Mon, 10 Feb 2020 at 18:28...

So here goes, guyz:

1. Schedule 3 (Pharmacist Only Medicine) for amyl nitrite
2. February 2020 Poison Standard took effect from February 1 2020

This means that the only formula you can buy after Feb 1st is amyl nitrite. Cannot be bought anywhere but a pharmacist.

This is what I THINK. After reading and re-reading (twice) some total hash of an article that I think came from The Star Observer as original source. It contradicts itself saying a prescription is required in one paragraph, and is not required in the next.

Never put poppers in a freezer, it is a myth created during a poppers panic (bulk buying) in the 1980's.