Big news on the current Poppers Ban in Australia.
A small victory was made yesterday for the voices of reason in the current debate around the legal status of amyl/poppers in Australia. In a press release from the Therapeutic Goods Administration, the organisation has announced that no rescheduling or ban of the listed substances will be decided on this year. The date on a decision was previously slated to be November 29th 2018. The delay of this decision until 2019 is to allow for broad community consultation - they heard us in the initial submissions process, now they need to hear us loud and clear in the coming months. A new submission date of January 15th has been announced, this can be done by the processes listed in the existing petition.
The main takeaways from this announcement:
➡️ We are not in the clear, they've kept the door open, but we've got to put the pressure on even more. See the petition for details on how to contact your local MP, contact the health minister, and how to make a submission to the TGA. Please continue to share this petition amongst your networks.
➡️ The TGA is not yet acknowledging poppers use as a therapeutic sex aid. Thumbs down.
➡️ The TGA is not yet acknowledging the negative impacts that a ban would bring, particularly the main aspects of homophobia and discrimination against receptive partners. Thumbs down.
➡️ The TGA have not acknowledged the cultural importance of poppers for the queer community in Australia - no mention of LGBTIQ Australians has been made in this press release or in previous information released by the organisation. This makes us wary that they still don't understand the ramifications of any future decisions they may make on our behalf. Thumbs down.
➡️ Your voices have made an impact - the TGA have finally acknowledged the use of poppers by our community. Also, this extension acknowledges they had rushed the initial poorly-informed process without proper consultation - your voices are being heard.
➡️ The TGA has acknowledged for the first time that poppers have been used responsibly by consenting adults without any negative consequences.
➡️ The TGA will release a discussion paper and for the first time have displayed a willingness to discuss access options for users.
➡️ Public meetings run by the TGA will be run in major cities in Jan/Feb. Once we get the details on these meetings, these will be passed on and I implore all the signatories of this petition to attend.
More details will come with the release of the discussion paper later this month. We hope that this move by the TGA has meant they have listened to the researchers, the doctors, the criminal justice experts, and users, and will move forward in a way that respects the right of receptive partners to access poppers as a therapeutic sexual aid.