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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

No One Has to Get Hurt,|Unless You’re Into That

VANCOUVER, B.C. (CN) - A sex toy company says in court that its leather-cleaner stock was seized because Canadian law improperly classifies it as a "drug."

The leather cleaner Lockerroom Marketing manufactures and markets is "for cleaning personal leather apparel used in the niche market of sexual fetishism that includes, among other things, bondage," according to its application in the Federal Court of Canada. "The applicant also sells the type of personal leather apparel on which the leather cleaner is used, such as harnesses and cockrings."

It says its products feature "clear warnings against human ingestion" on the labels.

Back in May, Health Canada and the police officers inspected Lockerroom's warehouse in the Vancouver suburb of Delta, and agents concluded that the leather cleaner product is a "drug," seized the product and requested that the company stop selling it under a voluntary recall of products containing alkyl nitrites.

The company complied with the recall, but "is suffering economic loss and lost business opportunity as a result of Health Canada's decision," the application states.

While the products are marketed as leather cleaners and liquid incense, Health Canada claims the products are commonly known as "poppers," which pose a health danger when used to get high. Health Canada did not return a request for comment.

"Products containing alkyl nitrites could pose serious risks, including death, to Canadians, depending on the amount used, how frequently they are used and how long they are used for, as well as the person's health and the other medications they may be taking," its website states. "Since it is difficult to control how much is inhaled, people can accidentally overdose. Swallowing these products can lead to serious medical complications and may be fatal."

The Food and Drugs Act defines a "drug" as "any substance or mixture of substances manufactured, sold or represented for use in (a) the diagnosis, treatment, mitigation or prevention of a disease, disorder or abnormal physical state, or its symptoms, in human beings or animals, (b) restoring, correcting or modifying organic functions in human beings or animals, or (c) disinfection in premises in which food is manufactured, prepared or kept."

Lockerroom Marketing is represented in its action against the Minister of Health by Lyndsay Smith of Fowler and Smith Barristers in Vancouver.

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