Nation: Rushing to a New High

Poppers with a risky bang Amid the flashing strobe lights and pulsating beat of music in discos across the country, too many dancers are moving frenetically these days to the throb of their own physical highs. For them, Saturday night fever is heightened by a tiny amber bottle openly — and legally — held to the nose and sniffed. The contents, isobutyl nitrite, smell a bit like burning rubber, and the effect is intense and brief — lightheadedness and a sudden rush that makes the heart race and the body quiver. But the chemical's...