Dr Amy Peacock presented at a public meeting on Thursday 31st January in Sydney organised by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) to consult on regulatory options for appropriate access and safety controls for alkyl nitrites.
The Sydney meeting was conducted in partnership with the Kirby Institute and NDARC at UNSW Sydney, and included presentations from the NSW Poisons Information Centre and the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations (AFAO).
The full TGA public communique and the other presentations are available here: https://www.tga.gov.au/public-meeting-communique-regulatory-options-appr...
Key findings from Drug Trends:
- Around one in five people who regularly use ecstasy and other illicit stimulants report using amyl nitrite (‘poppers’) in the last six months.
- People who report amyl nitrite use are typically more likely to endorse use of a range of illicit drugs relative to those who do not report use.
- Acute health harms of amyl nitrite use were not assessed. Yet, indicators suggest that amyl nitrite use is infrequently consumed in instances of overdose and other problematic drug use behaviours (e.g., binge use).