A popper is a recreational drug that is
inhaled to enhance sexual pleasure.
They became popular in the 1970's,
mostly among gay men.
They are made of amyl/butyl nitrate/
nitrite. The formula underwent
various iterations, often to circumvent
bans on the earlier formula.
The Pentagon studied amyl nitrate
at least twice in the 1960's and 1970's,
once in a chemical warfare lab.
In spite of its being strong mutagenic,
it was allowed to be marketed
aggressively to gay men.
It has a long-standing, alleged link to
Kaposi's sarcoma. In gay men, KS
tended to appear around the mouth
and nose, where the inhalation took
place. Normally, KS appears mostly
on the legs.
KS incidence declined proportionally,
when popper use declined.
It is entirely possible that the poppers
were contaminated with a carcinogen
(my own insight), or that they caused
KS directly. They are known to be
immune system suppressive.
There is some reason to believe that
poppers do NOT normally cause KS.
because they have been a presciption
medicine treatment for chest pain, for
many decades. This fact raises the
suspicion of contamination.
There is a competing theory that herpes
virus causes KS, but this is also very
controversial, and hotly denied by
luminaries like Robert Gallo. However,
there is no reason to assume that these
possibilities are mutually exclusive, any
more than the causes of other cancers
are mutually exclusive.
Leave it to a straight microbiologist to
misinform you, and treat this subject
as a joke.
Thus, justifying my being here, a mere
computer engineer, out of his field,
but just exactly where he belongs.
Tom Keske
Boston, Mass.
