Misuse of Drugs noted in 2011 that poppers, rather than being psychoactive substance or 'legal high', "appear to fall within the scope of The Intoxicating Substances (Supply) Act 1985". The Psychoactive Substances Act 2016, scheduled to be enacted 1 April 2016, was initially claimed to impose a blanket ban on the production, import and distribution of all poppers. On 20 January 2016 a motion to exempt poppers (alkyl nitrites) from this legislation was defeated. This was opposed by Conservative MP Ben Howlett. Howlett's fellow Conservative MP Crispin Blunt declared that he has used and currently uses poppers. Manufacturers expressed concern over loss of business and potential unemployment. In March 2016, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs stated that, because alkyl nitrites do not directly stimulate or depress the central nervous system, poppers do not fall within the scope of the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016. United States Amyl nitrite was originally marketed as a prescription drug in 1937. It remained so until 1960, when the Food and Drug Administration removed the prescription requirement due to its safety record. This requirement was reinstated in 1969, after observing an increase in recreational use. There was a huge increase in the number of brands for butyl nitrites after the FDA put in the prescription requirement again in 1969. Butyl nitrites were outlawed in 1988 by the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988. This prompted distributors to sell other alkyl nitrites not yet banned, like isopropyl nitrites. In 1990, isopropyl nitrites and other nitrites not yet banned were outlawed by the Crime Control Act of 1990. Both of these laws include an exception for commercial purpose, defined as any use other than for the production of consumer products containing volatile alkyl nitrites meant for inhaling or otherwise introducing volatile alkyl nitrites into the human body for euphoric or physical effects. See also Alcohol and sex Sex and drugs References Alkyl nitrites Antianginals Antidotes Dissociative drugs Drug culture Eli Lilly and Company Euphoriants Inhalants LGBT terminology Muscle relaxants Vasodilators AIDS origin hypotheses Sex and drugs