Amyl/Butyl Nitrites
Amyl and Butyl Nitrites relaxes smooth muscle tissue and increases the diameter of blood vessels. The drugs lowers blood pressure to dangerous levels. Butyl nitrite can thin the walls of blood vessels in the brain, which may lead to strokes. This drug has a unique smell, like dirty sweaty socks, which is reflected in one of its names, "locker room." Another name for Butyl nitrite is "rush," which relates to the rush of blood out of the brain and the resulting intoxication.
The use of amyl nitrite as a prescription drug for angina pectoris has dropped considerably since the 1960s. Doctors now use other drugs more commonly to control chest pain in heart patients.
Since the growth in popularity of nitrites 1970s, they continue to be sold through Web sites and catalogs as an industrial chemical, specifically as a room deodorizer or liquid incense. These substances are widely known, however, for the high they give users who sniff them in concentrated form.
More than 5 million Americans abused nitrites at least once a week in the early 1990s. At that time, the primary abusers of nitrites were adults around twenty-five years of age not students in middle school or high school. There are several reasons for this, and the main one is accessibility. Amyl nitrite is a prescription drug, which makes it harder for teens to obtain.
Different inhalants, such as glue, paint, nail polish, hair spray, and other aerosol propellants, were and still are far easier to get and can produce a quick high of their own.
Another reason for the historic popularity of nitrites among people twenty-five and older had to do with the muscle-relaxing effects of the drug, nitrite abusers tend to be looking for different effects from the other inhalant abusers. The heart isn't the only muscle that amyl nitrite relaxes; other muscles throughout the body are affected by it as well. As a result, amyl nitrite has gained a reputation as a sexual aid.
Medical experts have linked amyl nitrite abuse with unsafe sexual activity, prompting fears that users have a higher risk of developing sexually transmitted diseases.
As of 2005, nitrite abuse could be found across all ethnic groups, age levels, and genders. However, the most frequent users fell into one of two groups:
- 1) older, white, usually male adolescents from families with low to average incomes, and
- 2) teenagers and young adults who attend all-night dance parties, known as raves (Overnight dance parties that typically involve huge crowds of people, loud techno music, and illegal drug use) on a regular basis.
Nitrites are often used in combination with other so-called rave or club drugs, such as 2C-B, ecstasy (MDMA), GHB, and ketamine.
Few studies focus specifically on amyl nitrite abuse; the drug is usually lumped into the general category of inhalants. However, researchers and other members of the scientific community generally believe the amyl nitrite problem is not as severe as that posed by other, more readily available, inhalants.
