Wed 27 Jan 2016 In: International News View at Wayback View at NDHA
The UK government has announced it will be reviewing the decision made last week that bans poppers nationally. In the coming months, the UK government will be reviewing the law surrounding poppers in the UK after facing pressure from the Advisory Council on the Missue of Drugs (ACMD), the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, and backbench Tory MPs. The law is set to come into force this April however experts had said prior to the vote in Parliament, that the ban may do more harm than good for gay and bisexual men. The Home Office Minister, Mike Penning, has previously said that the government recognises that poppers have a beneficial health and relationship effect in enabling anal sex for some gay and bisexual men. Openly gay Conservative MP Crispin Blunt outed himself as a user of poppers during the debate, saying, “I use poppers myself, I am a popper user and I will be directly affected by this legislation. "I’m shocked it’s proposed to be banned and so would very many other gay men. If I follow my own mindset reaction to this, it serves to bring the whole law into disrepute," he said. It is thought the law will be reversed as early as July this year.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 27th January 2016 - 1:13pm