Rum and Poke
"Poke," as Viagra is casually known, has replaced Ecstasy and
cocaine as the drug of choice for many on the club circuit,
reports The Web of Abuse, an Internet magazine. Users frequently
combine poke with alcohol or other drugs, saying it enhances
sexual desire and lovemaking and gives them "feelings of
warmth." It also gives them feelings of complacency. "These kids
know that there's no real price to pay," acknowledges Hubert, a
Miami club deejay. "If you get caught with a gram of coke,
you're looking at jail time. If you're busted with poke, you're
not going to take much heat." Despite anecdotal evidence,
Viagra's manufacturer is hesitant to admit that its sales champ
has any secondary use. "These stories about Viagra as a party
drug really can't be substantiated," says Pfizer Inc.
spokeswoman Mariann Caprino, "and I don't tend to believe them."
Based on the company's data, the vast majority of Viagra users
are men over 50 -- hardly the folks you'd expect to find
traversing high-decibel, high-energy nightclubs. But Caprino
somewhat grudgingly admits that there may be a trickle-down
effect from Viagra's target market. "There's a certain chic to
having Viagra, and right now it's very easy to get," says Steven
Lamm, M.D., author of The Virility Solution: Everything You Need
to Know About Viagra. "Some Internet sites even accept faxed
prescriptions. But that's to be expected; it isn't exactly a
controlled substance or a narcotic. You can't get arrested for
having Viagra, and [doctors] can't question whether someone
needs the drug or plans to sell it for profit. I mean, if a
patient comes to us and says he can't get it up, we're not going
to make him prove it." Pfizer has launched its own campaign
against overly accommodating doctors, especially those with
commercial Web sites offering viagra on line. "Pfizer is
adamantly opposed to the Internet availability of Viagra, and
we've contacted a number of state medical boards that have taken
action against physicians who have engaged in this practice,"
Caprino says. "We don't believe that buying any drug on the Net
without [appropriate medical supervision] is a good way to be
diagnosed or treated for a serious medical condition. Erectile
dysfunction is associated with other medical conditions, like
prostate cancer, and by not seeing a physician, you're missing a
potential diagnosis of a serious underlying condition." Viagra's
big bang actually started with a humble whimper. The little blue
pill, also known as sildenafil citrate, was first tried --
unsuccessfully -- as a treatment for angina. Although it didn't
eliminate chest pain, its users were reluctant to stop taking
it. Doctors quickly discovered why: The drug enhances the
effects of chemicals that the body normally releases during
sexual arousal, thereby allowing an increase of blood flow into
the penis; it also blocks the natural enzyme that counteracts
those chemicals. During clinical trials, Viagra had a success
rate of 70 to 90 percent, compared to 10 to 30 percent for a
placebo. Reported side effects included headaches, flushing,
indigestion and a visual impairment where everything seems
tinted a murky pale blue. Not surprisingly, only 2.5 percent of
the trial subjects found these reactions objectionable enough to
discontinue treatment. More serious reactions have come to light
since then, but for some men, Viagra's benefit is apparently
worth any risk.