By Song Shengxia

Poppers, an inhalant that homosexual men use to enhance sexual pleasure but prohibited in major Western countries, is being sold openly on taobao. com, China's largest retail website.

Marketed as qingaifangxiangji (sex and love fragrance), more than 2,000 bottles of poppers are available starting at just 9.9 yuan and as high as 1,200 yuan ($1.45 to $176) under such brand names as Rush, Locker Room and Manscent.

The Global Times contacted one shop, mingrenshanzhuang, on the website yesterday that offered "preliminary grade" with a light effect to "advanced grade" with strong effect, starting at 70 yuan ($10).

"They are all imported and safe for use," the shop owner said. To convince customers that his US-made products are genuine, he showed a scanned copy of an import duty paid receipt to the Global Times.

Poppers, a street term for alkyl nitrites, is also a longtime club drug and well known for enhancing the sexual experience. When inhaled, it can cause a rush, euphoria or other sensations by relaxing muscles and increasing the heart rate.

Since the 1990s, many Western countries have outlawed the sales and import of poppers for use as a recreational drug on the grounds it could cause strokes, heart attacks, lead to unsafe sex or even contraction of the HIV virus.

However, an American in Beijing who had inhaled it three times in his life told the Global Times that the inhalant did not seem to have side effect on him.

"It has a fruity sweet smell. Once I inhaled it, I just wanted to do some more. They don't last long, about 10 minutes or so," he said.

While over-the-counter sale of poppers has been banned in many Western countries, online shops based in other countries promise to ship it almost anywhere in the world.

In China, there appears to be no specific regulation on the use of poppers and it was difficult to obtain a definitive response to the question whether they're legal or not in China.

A worker surnamed Zhang with the Narcotics Control Department of Beijing Public Security Bureau, told the Global Times that there is a difference between prohibited narcotics such as cocaine, and poppers, which are intended mainly for medical uses.

"Whether it's legal to use it or not, you need to check with medicine regulators," he said.

The drug safety hotline at the Shanghai Food and Drug Administration could not say whether poppers are illegal.

"But if the product has no State drug license number or import license, it must be illegal," the hotline worker told the Global Times.

The October 2008 edition of Esquire China ranked poppers as No. 1 "best sex buddy," but the Global Times could not find it in large over-the-counter sex shops.

Lin Degang, manager of Oyeah Sex Store in Beijing, said his shops do not offer poppers out of "legal concerns" and "social influence."

Fang Gang, a sexologist at Beijing Forestry University, told the Global Times the government has stepped up efforts to control drug use since late 2008. "Poppers must fall into the category to be banned by the government," he said.