There's apparently more to the story of Rush disappearing from the shelves.
Apparently the company's owner, Joe Miller, committed suicide on August 25. Miller was gay and lived in Indiana and his fortune apparently was from the manufacture and distribution of poppers. Miller wrote a 1983 letter to The Advocate, boasting of the money he spent in the gay media. He was significant contributor to Democrats and, through his foundation, he also donated money to a variety of HIV/AIDS education and children's groups. Because of the manner in which his money was made and the old myth of poppers spreading the virus, Miller was controversial.
His company fronted sites that downplay the negative effects of poppers. (While evidence linking them to HIV has been mostly debunked, their use with Viagra/Cialis/Levitra can kill you.) Apparently the Indianapolis Star pulled its online obituary for him. Rumors are in the comments of the blogs quoted above of his company being raided by the federal government, sexual tourism, and using influence to suppress "anti-poppers" regulation and media coverage.
(Full disclosure insists that I note that my former website did run Rush ads paid for by PWD. A few emails of complaint did come from those that believe poppers to be key to the spread of HIV. In my replies then and in to this day, I assert that human behavior spreads HIV, not poppers.)
