FDA cracks down on popular gay party drug ‘poppers’

 The party’s no longer popping.

The Food and Drug Administration is cracking down on “poppers,” a recreational party drug popular within the LGBTQ+ community, multiple outlets report.

Poppers, made of alkyl nitrates, have operated in a legal gray area for decades — masquerading as cleaning solvents and nail polish remover, according to Fast Company — but the inhalants have now seemingly fallen under scrutiny.

Double Scorpio, a Texas-based poppers producer, announced this week that it “stopped all operations following a search and seizure” performed by the FDA, according to a statement on their website, which has been wiped of all other information.

“We don’t have a lot of information to share but we believe that the FDA has performed similar actions towards other companies recently,” the company wrote, thanking their loyal customers for their “trust” during their eight years in business.

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While The Post contacted the FDA for comment, a spokesperson for the agency told Fast Company that, due to policy, “the FDA does not comment on possible criminal investigations.”

The outlet also reports that multiple other poppers brands have gone silent and scrubbed their internet presence, such as Rush producer Pac-West Distributing (PWD), whose site now only displays the brand logo, and poppers seller Nitro-Solv, which announced on their site they have “ceased operations.”

AFAB Industrial — a fellow Rush producer and once an outspoken face of the poppers industry — has gone ghost, too, according to Fast Company. In 2021, AFAB International owner Everett Farr alleged he controlled 75% of the market.

“As far as I’m concerned, I sell nail polish remover,” he told Buzzfeed at the time, although he admitted that “without this product, a multitude of gay men cannot have gay sex.”

Varities of poppers can be found for sale at local gas stations and sex stores.wikimedia

Poppers, sold in a tiny plastic bottle at convenience stores, sex shops and gas stations across the country, cause a euphoric high when sniffed and have muscle relaxant properties that propelled the inhalant to popularity as a sex drug in the gay community.

They were previously prescribed for chest pain and, in the 1960s, poppers, made with amyl nitrites at the time, were ruled a prescription drug by the FDA. While manufacturers switched to using butyl nitrites as a substitute, the chemical was banned in 1988, followed by a ban on isopropyl nitrites two years later.

Regulation of isopropyl nitrites, however, had an exception for “commercial purposes,” according to Fast Company, a loophole for producers of poppers.

While poppers have previously been incorrectly linked to AIDS in the LGBTQ+ community — an unfounded stance Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has doubled down on despite lacking evidence — the misuse of poppers has been linked to adverse health effects.

Newly appointed US Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has incorrectly claimed that poppers and drug use cause AIDS and not HIV, a stance that lacks evidence, according to NBC News.Allison Bailey/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

These include racing pulse, flushed face and neck, headache, vomiting, nausea and vision issues, and ingesting poppers could even be fatal.

“It’s not an energy drink,” Joseph J. Palamar, an associate professor in population health at NYU Langone Health who studies the use of poppers, told NBC News. “You’ll definitely be poisoned.”

A study published this month in Clinical Toxicology investigated an area in New York City in which poison control centers saw an uptick in poppers poisoning, according to NBC News. Researchers questioned workers at 86 stores that sold poppers, asking how to use the product. Half said to inhale it, 44% did not know and 8% advised ingesting.

In 2021, the FDA warned not to ingest nor inhale the drug, claiming the behavior “seriously jeopardizes your health.”

“These chemicals can be caustic and damage the skin or other tissues they come in contact with, cause difficulty breathing, extreme drops in blood pressure, decreases in blood oxygen levels, seizures, heart arrhythmia, coma, and death,” Judy McMeekin, Pharm. D., Associate Commissioner for Regulatory Affairs, said in the FDA statement.

“Do not ingest or inhale under any circumstances.”

https://nypost.com/2025/03/15/lifestyle/fda-cracks-down-on-popular-gay-party-drug-poppers/

Invocation of the Alien Enemies Act Regarding the Invasion of US by Tren De Aragua

 BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

Tren de Aragua (TdA) is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization with thousands of members, many of whom have unlawfully infiltrated the United States and are conducting irregular warfare and undertaking hostile actions against the United States. TdA operates in conjunction with Cártel de los Soles, the Nicolas Maduro regime-sponsored, narco-terrorism enterprise based in Venezuela, and commits brutal crimes, including murders, kidnappings, extortions, and human, drug, and weapons trafficking. TdA has engaged in and continues to engage in mass illegal migration to the United States to further its objectives of harming United States citizens, undermining public safety, and supporting the Maduro regime’s goal of destabilizing democratic nations in the Americas, including the United States.

TdA is closely aligned with, and indeed has infiltrated, the Maduro regime, including its military and law enforcement apparatus. TdA grew significantly while Tareck El Aissami served as governor of Aragua between 2012 and 2017. In 2017, El Aissami was appointed as Vice President of Venezuela. Soon thereafter, the United States Department of the Treasury designated El Aissami as a Specially Designated Narcotics Trafficker under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, 21 U.S.C. 1901 et seq. El Aissami is currently a United States fugitive facing charges arising from his violations of United States sanctions triggered by his Department of the Treasury designation.

Like El Aissami, Nicolas Maduro, who claims to act as Venezuela’s President and asserts control over the security forces and other authorities in Venezuela, also maintains close ties to regime-sponsored narco-terrorists. Maduro leads the regime-sponsored enterprise Cártel de los Soles, which coordinates with and relies on TdA and other organizations to carry out its objective of using illegal narcotics as a weapon to “flood” the United States. In 2020, Maduro and other regime members were charged with narcoterrorism and other crimes in connection with this plot against America.

Over the years, Venezuelan national and local authorities have ceded ever-greater control over their territories to transnational criminal organizations, including TdA. The result is a hybrid criminal state that is perpetrating an invasion of and predatory incursion into the United States, and which poses a substantial danger to the United States. Indeed, in December 2024, INTERPOL Washington confirmed: “Tren de Aragua has emerged as a significant threat to the United States as it infiltrates migration flows from Venezuela.” Evidence irrefutably demonstrates that TdA has invaded the United States and continues to invade, attempt to invade, and threaten to invade the country; perpetrated irregular warfare within the country; and used drug trafficking as a weapon against our citizens.

Based upon a review of TdA’s activities, and in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury, on February 20, 2025, acting pursuant to the authority in 8 U.S.C. 1189, the Secretary of State designated TdA as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.

As President of the United States and Commander in Chief, it is my solemn duty to protect the American people from the devastating effects of this invasion. NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the Alien Enemies Act, 50 U.S.C. 21 et seq., hereby proclaim and direct as follows:

Section 1. I find and declare that TdA is perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion or predatory incursion against the territory of the United States. TdA is undertaking hostile actions and conducting irregular warfare against the territory of the United States both directly and at the direction, clandestine or otherwise, of the Maduro regime in Venezuela. I make these findings using the full extent of my authority to conduct the Nation’s foreign affairs under the Constitution. Based on these findings, and by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including 50 U.S.C. 21, I proclaim that all Venezuelan citizens 14 years of age or older who are members of TdA, are within the United States, and are not actually naturalized or lawful permanent residents of the United States are liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured, and removed as Alien Enemies. I further find and declare that all such members of TdA are, by virtue of their membership in that organization, chargeable with actual hostility against the United States and are therefore ineligible for the benefits of 50 U.S.C. 22. I further find and declare that all such members of TdA are a danger to the public peace or safety of the United States.

Sec. 2. I direct the Attorney General, within 60 days of the date of this proclamation, to prepare and publish a letter under her signature declaring the policy described in section 1 of this proclamation as the policy of the United States and attaching this proclamation. I direct the Attorney General to transmit this letter to the Chief Justice of the United States, the chief judge of every circuit court of appeals, the chief judge of every district and territorial court of the United States, each Governor of a State and territory of the United States, and the highest-ranking judicial officer of each State and territory of the United States.

Sec. 3. I direct that all Alien Enemies described in section 1 of this proclamation are subject to immediate apprehension, detention, and removal, and further that they shall not be permitted residence in the United States.

Sec. 4. Pursuant to the Alien Enemies Act, the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall, consistent with applicable law, apprehend, restrain, secure, and remove every Alien Enemy described in section 1 of this proclamation. The Secretary of Homeland Security retains discretion to apprehend and remove any Alien Enemy under any separate authority.

Sec. 5. All executive departments and agencies (agencies) shall collaborate with law enforcement officials of the United States and with appropriate State, local, and tribal officials, to use all lawful means to apprehend, restrain, secure, and remove Alien Enemies described in section 1 of this proclamation.

Sec. 6. Pursuant to my authority under 50 U.S.C. 21 to direct the conduct to be observed on the part of the United States toward the Alien Enemies subject to this proclamation, to direct the manner and degree of the restraint to which such Alien Enemies shall be subject and in what cases, to provide for the removal of such Alien Enemies, and to establish any other regulations which are found necessary “in the premises and for the public safety,” I hereby direct the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security to execute all the regulations hereinafter contained regarding the Alien Enemies described in section 1 of this proclamation. The Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security are further directed to cause the apprehension, detention, and removal of all members of TdA who otherwise qualify as Alien Enemies under section 1 of this proclamation. The Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security are authorized to take all necessary actions under the Alien Enemies Act to effectuate this proclamation, consistent with applicable law. In doing so, and for such purpose, they are authorized to utilize agents, agencies, and officers of the United States Government and of the several States, territories, dependencies, and municipalities thereof and of the District of Columbia. All such agents, agencies, and officers are hereby granted full authority for all acts done by them in the execution of such regulations when acting by direction of the Attorney General or the Secretary of Homeland Security, as the case may be.

Pursuant to the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the Alien Enemies Act, 50 U.S.C. 21 et seq., I hereby declare and establish the following regulations which I find necessary “in the premises and for the public safety”:

(a) No Alien Enemy described in section 1 of this proclamation shall enter, attempt to enter, or be found within any territory subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. Any such Alien Enemy who enters, attempts to enter, or is found within such territory shall be immediately apprehended and detained until removed from the United States. All such Alien Enemies, wherever found within any territory subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, are subject to summary apprehension.

(b) Alien Enemies apprehended pursuant to this proclamation shall be subject to detention until removed from the United States in such place of detention as may be directed by the officers responsible for the execution of these regulations.

(c) Alien Enemies shall be subject to removal to any such location as may be directed by the officers responsible for the execution of these regulations consistent with applicable law.

(d) All property in the possession of, or traceable to, an Alien Enemy, which is used, intended to be used, or is commonly used to perpetrate the hostile activity and irregular warfare of TdA, along with evidence of such hostile activity and irregular warfare, shall be subject to seizure and forfeiture.

The Attorney General is further granted authority, pursuant to the Alien Enemies Act and 3 U.S.C. 301, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, to issue any guidance necessary to effectuate the prompt apprehension, detention, and removal of all Alien Enemies described in section 1 of this proclamation. Any such guidance shall be effective immediately upon issuance by the Attorney General.

This proclamation and the directives and regulations prescribed herein shall extend and apply to all land and water, continental or insular, in any way within the jurisdiction of the United States.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
fourteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-ninth.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/invocation-of-the-alien-enemies-act-regarding-the-invasion-of-the-united-states-by-tren-de-aragua/

Trump launches strikes against Yemen's Houthis and warns Iran

 U.S. President Donald Trump launched military strikes against Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis on Saturday over the group's attacks against Red Sea shipping, warning "hell will rain down upon you" if the Houthis do not abandon their campaign.

Trump also warned Iran, the Houthis' main backer, that it needed to immediately halt support to the group. He said if Iran threatened the United States "America will hold you fully accountable and, we won't be nice about it!"

The unfolding U.S. strikes represent the biggest U.S. military operation in the Middle East since Trump took office in January, and came as the United States ramps up sanctions pressure on Tehran while trying to bring it to the negotiating table over its nuclear program.

At least nine civilians were killed and nine injured in U.S. strikes on Yemen's Sanaa, according to the Houthi-run health ministry.

Residents in Sanaa said the strikes hit a building in a Houthi stronghold.

"The explosions were violent and shook the neighborhood like an earthquake. They terrified our women and children," one of the residents, who gave his name as Abdullah Yahia, told Reuters.

The Houthis launched more than 100 attacks targeting shipping from November 2023, saying they were in solidarity with Palestinians over Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza.

Iran's other allies, Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, have been severely weakened since the start of the conflict. Syria's Bashar al-Assad, who was closely aligned with Tehran, was overthrown by rebels in December.

But during this period, Yemen's Houthis have remained resilient and on the offensive, sinking two vessels, seizing another and killing at least four seafarers in an offensive that disrupted global shipping, forcing firms to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa.

The previous U.S. administration of President Joe Biden had sought to degrade the Houthis' ability to attack vessels off its coast but limited the U.S. actions.

U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, say Trump has authorized a more aggressive approach.

The strikes on Saturday were carried out in part by aircraft from the Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier, which is in the Red Sea, officials said.

Trump held out the prospect of far more devastating military action against Yemen.

"The Houthi attack on American vessels will not be tolerated. We will use overwhelming lethal force until we have achieved our objective," Trump wrote.

On Tuesday, the Houthis said they would resume attacks on Israeli ships passing through the Red and Arabian seas, the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Gulf of Aden, ending a period of relative calm starting in January with the Gaza ceasefire.

The U.S. attacks came just days after a letter to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei from Trump was delivered, seeking talks over Iran's nuclear program.

Khamenei on Wednesday rejected holding negotiations with the United States.

Still, Tehran is increasingly concerned that mounting public anger over economic hardships could erupt into mass protests, four Iranian officials told Reuters.

Last year, Israeli strikes on Iranian facilities, including missile factories and air defenses, in retaliation for Iranian missile and drone attacks, reduced Tehran's conventional military capabilities, according to U.S. officials.

Iran has denied wanting to develop a nuclear weapon. However, it is dramatically accelerating enrichment of uranium to up to 60% purity, close to the roughly 90% weapons-grade level, the U.N. nuclear watchdog - the International Atomic Energy Agency - has warned.

Western states say there is no need to enrich uranium to such a high level under any civilian program and that no other country has done so without producing nuclear bombs. Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful. Iran has denied wanting to develop a nuclear weapon.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-launches-strikes-against-yemens-185128701.html