The Council of State has just canceled a decree prohibiting the sale of poppers. This drug, the most consumed after cannabis, is however likely to lead these users towards risky behavior.
Poppers will soon be available over the counter on the Internet and in sex shops! The Council of State has indeed just annulled a ministerial decree prohibiting the marketing of these small bottles, by a decision rendered on Monday, June 3. The announcement is likely to cause concern among many parents since this drug is now very popular among young people.
An inspiration through the nostrils, a feeling of immediate euphoria, an aphrodisiac effect … “Poppers are now the most widely used drug after cannabis (5% of users among 18-64 year olds), particularly among young people. », Noted the last report of the French Observatory for Drugs and Drug Addiction (Ofdt). “They immediately generate a feeling of euphoria, possibly accompanied by laughter, and relaxation of the muscle fibers leading to intense dilation of the vessels”, described the Observatory. Originally used in the gay community to increase sexual performance, “the sex drug” is now for recreational use. More than one in ten young people between the ages of 18 and 25 have used it at least once a year.
No risk of addiction
But since June 29, 2011, a decree from the former minister of Health Xavier Bertrand prohibited the marketing of poppers. And at the time, it was already the high levels of consumption that had led the government to make this decision. The application of drug regulations to these products had thus been justified by “a risk of drug dependence and abuse”. However, for the Council of State, “it emerges from the documents which were submitted to it, that these products have a low toxicity at the usual inhaled doses” and that no scientific study or survey produced makes it possible to establish these risks within the meaning provisions provided for by the public health code. As a result, the Council considers that “the Minister of Health could not decide to ban” these products on the basis of the provisions of the Public Health Code relating to narcotics.
Specialists worried about the return of poppers
The decision therefore ignores scientific studies that point to the dangers of poppers. “They induce visual losses, the macular but also cardiac toxicity of the poppers is documented”, summarized to the Agence Presse Médicale Laurent Karila, psychiatrist at the Paul-Brousse hospital. And Dr Amine Benyamina, addiction psychiatrist in the same hospital continued, “this decision of the Council of State is not good news. Even if these very volatile liquid preparations do not create habituation, the collateral damage of these products is not negligible. Poppers lead to risky behavior on the part of users, especially during sexual intercourse. In addition, they prepare for the consumption of other drugs ”.
Finally, in some cases, the consumption of these substances can lead to poisoning, and low blood pressure, potentially fatal. “The risk increases, reports the Observatory, during the concomitant intake of drugs such as Viagra”. Between 1999 and 2009, 794 cases of exposure to poppers were identified in poison control centers, including 119 serious cases.
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