Amyl Nitrite | How Is It Taken?
How Is It Taken?
Amyl nitrite vapor is usually inhaled through the nose and more rarely inhaled through the mouth. Small doses—0.3 millilitres each—of the prescription drug come in very fragile, airtight glass vials or containers called ampules. These ampules are covered with a layer of cotton material and topped off with an outer mesh wrapping. The containers are easily crushed between the thumb and fingers. That's how vials of amyl nitrite became known as poppers—because of the "popping" sound they make when crushed. In fact, the term poppers is so closely associated with amyl nitrite that it has been listed as a slang name for the drug in the last three editions of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. (The definition, according to Webster's 11th Edition, is "a vial of amyl nitrite or butyl nitrite used [illegally] as an inhalational aphrodisiacPronounced aff-roh-DEE-zee-ack; a drug or other substance that excites or increases sexual desire..")
After the ampules are broken, the layer of cotton surrounding the popper becomes soaked with the drug. When the vapors from the liquid are inhaled, the amyl nitrite triggers an almost immediate jump in heart rate and a drop in blood pressure. Heart patients experiencing severe chest pain are instructed to wave the broken ampule under their noses and inhale the amyl nitrite vapors up to six times (while seated because dizziness may occur). Amyl nitrite begins working very quickly—within fifteen to thirty seconds—and its pain-relieving effects are dramatic.
Because a prescription is required to obtain amyl nitrite in the United States, two variants of the drug, butyl nitrite and isobutyl nitrite, became popular in the 1970s. These and other nitrites are now generally sold in small, dark-colored glass bottles and sniffed in concentrated form. Nitrite-based inhalants produce an almost instant high that is felt for two to five minutes.