Last week I’d mentioned how some questions from a gentleman in San Francisco had led me to add the “Poppers And Your Health” page to this web site. Now I can tell the story.
I received an email from Seth Hemmelgarn, a contributing writer for San Francisco’s famed Bay Area Reporter. He told me that he was working on a story about selling poppers on the Internet, and he asked if I would agree to be interviewed for this. That same evening we did an email interview, portions of which were included in a story published yesterday in the BAR: Activist, city address availability of poppers. It’s a good article, balanced, well-written, and I think it’s worth a read.
What I didn’t know, until all of this, is that there are in San Francisco some voices who still repeat the discredited argument I last heard in the 1980s about poppers causing KS and/or HIV. Of course they don’t. It’s a virus that does it, and the way to deal with the virus to deal with your behavior and manage your risks. I’ve been around since the beginning of the epidemic, and the message was drummed into me over and over again. I’ve been around the block more than once, and I lived through the time when so many of us, me included, we too scared to even get close or achieve intimacy with another man. Those days are over. Although we will always live in a world of risks, we don’t have to live in fear anymore.
I have also learned that some of our more progressive communities have started public education efforts to better inform people about the effects and risks of poppers. I’m all for that. If someone has a heart attack because no one told him not to use poppers with Viagra, that’s a preventable crisis, maybe even a preventable death.
And, I have also learned that some wish to further restrict access to poppers. On restrictions, well, I don’t get to to make those decisions, but I will always follow the law. My opinion of them is as I’ve said before: I’m your Daddy — in some places and times — and not your nanny. I want people to grow up, educate themselves, and make their own responsible choices.
In keeping with that, I’m publishing here the text of the interview I had with Seth. There’s a lot more information about myself here than I’ve chosen to make public before, and believe me, I do not do this lightly. I do this in the trust that my customers are, in some ways, my friends. This information is good for you to know, and it’s good for you to be aware of all the potential health issues if you choose to use poppers. Don’t forget to read the Poppers And Your Health page. Now here’s the interview:
Seth: Since selling poppers is illegal, and there’s debate that it causes more susceptibility to HIV infections, why do you sell them?
I realize they’re posted on the site as aromas and video head cleaners.
Bob: In general, selling “poppers” is not illegal; what is illegal is selling specific formulas. Here in Texas, they are sold openly in some gay and adult-oriented business. I remember seeing the same arrangement when I lived in Southern California a few years ago and I saw them in a shop on Castro Street the last time I visited your city.
What I sell are products from PWD brands and other companies such as the ones described at the PWD web site in their section on USA formulas. See:
http://www.pwdbrands.com/usa_formula.php
Although the products are not specifically labeled or sold as inhalants, it’s clear what people use them for. The link to increased rates HIV infection was widely discussed in the 1980s but never proven. Since that time, most prevention campaigns are focused on education and behavioral issues addressing how people have sex, especially condom use. I believe each person has a responsibility to educate himself and make an informed choice about his behavior. You’ll notice that I sell condoms and condom-friendly lubes on the site.
The specific reasons why I sell them is that it fills a market niche as a business that I can run from home while being here to care for my disabled partner, who is a lifelong Type 1 diabetic and quarter-century HIV survivor. This is a very-small home-based business that I run by myself to supplement my other income as a free-lance programmer/consultant. I started GayHankies.com a demo web site to teach myself a certain programming package, then added actual products as an experiment when one of my paid projects wound down and I needed to add to my income stream. It helps, but it doesn’t pay my bills.
Seth: How many units (if that’s the proper term) do you sell in a year? How have sales changed in recent years? Are specific numbers available for San Francisco?
Bob: Sales volume is small, possibly 125 to 175 bottles a month. That would likely be over 1500 bottles a year; I’d have to check my accounting software for specific numbers. I receive a few orders every day and process them each morning. Many of my customers live in small towns or suburban areas and don’t necessarily have easy access to gay stores or even an adult bookstore. Others do live in big cities, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, New York, and Washington, and there are a few in places like Palm Springs, Key West, and so on. Most of these, I think, shop with me because of good customer service, value, convenience, and a sense of relationship. I rely on mostly a small group of long-time customers who shop regularly. I don’t keep specific numbers on how many are sold in each geographic location. The trend for sales is up slightly from year to year, but I rely more on word-of-mouth and networking to get new customers than on advertising.
Seth: How much money do you make from selling poppers?
Bob: I’d rather not give a specific number, but it’s less than I make from the rest of my freelance work.
Seth: What’s your title?
Bob: I’m the owner.
Seth: Is there anything else you’d like to mention?
Bob: I can’t think of anything else. Please let me know if you have more questions and also when the story will appear so that I can look for it online.
In a couple of follow-up emails, Seth asked about search-engine advertising, and I mentioned that I’d used Google’s AdWords service, which displays “sponsored links” for relevant ads when you search for something on Google. For me, I’ve done it as an experiment but have never really found that my volume or budget was enough to evaluate if it is effective.
After that, my curiosity led me to wonder why he was asking about HIV and poppers, a good twenty years or more since I’d ever heard anyone mention the two in the same sentence. A Google search led me to the health information about poppers provided by the Seattle/King Public Health Department. After I read it, I decided that it was a good and responsible thing to add that to my web site.
And that’s the story.
