British politicians were asked to vote on an amendment that would exempt alkyl nitrites. The amendment failed by a vote of 309 against to 228 for.
The vote on the actual Psychoactive Substances bill hasn’t happened yet but it will be expected to pass. It has cleared the House of Lords, and a third reading in the House of Commons is typically a formality.
Mike Penning, the Minister for State for Policing and Justice, pledged to ensure the government will look at considering putting poppers on the exemption list before the summer recess.
‘This is an important bill. It’s not perfect. It has some minor, I say minor, amendments that need to be addressed but in 2014 there were 129 deaths that psychoactive substances were implicated in.’
The last time poppers were linked to early deaths in the UK was in 2013, with two people dying with poppers in their system according to the Office for National Statistics. However, these were not the only harmful drugs in their body. Other drugs included crystal meth.
During the debate Mike Freer, a gay Conservative MP, saying poppers have a beneficial effect. He claimed you can use them to treat adder bites.
Crispin Blunt, another gay Conservative MP, outed himself as a poppers user during the debate.
Alkyl nitrites are used by an estimated one-third of gay and bi men, mostly to enhance sex. While possessing alkyl nitrites will not be illegal, bringing them into the country will be. And if you pass a bottle to a lover during sex, you will be treated like a drug dealer under the new law.
The bill will ban other ‘legal highs’. There is a list of things that are officially exempt under the law – including alcohol, tobacco, nicotine and even nutmeg.
The ban on poppers will be enacted on 1 April.
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