What is chemsex and why is the UK government worried about it?

No chemsex please, we’re British. It has widely been reported this morning that the UK government is gunning for chemsex in its new drug strategy, published today. But what is it, and is it really that bad?

Sorry, what is chemsex again?

It’s when people take drugs that enhance sex and make them feel uninhibited, more often in some gay communities. Typically it involves crystal methamphetamine, GHB (gamma hydroxybutyrate) or mephedrone, also known as miaow miaow, which can be snorted or swallowed. There’s also “slamsex”, which is when the drugs are injected for a more intense high.





I wasn’t taught about this in my school Sex Ed lessons

The trend has taken off in the last ten years or so, probably because of the rising use of these particular drugs along with the boom in hook-up apps.

Why is this more alarming than any of the other ways people use illegal drugs?

It raises the risk of sexually transmitted infections, like HIV and hepatitis C. It’s thought that the drugs can make people who usually use condoms feel less inhibited and have unprotected sex. Needle sharing for slamsex can also spread STIs.

Surely alcohol makes sex riskier too. Why aren’t we cracking down on “drunksex”?

To be fair to ministers, chemsex is a relatively new behaviour that is raising concern among sexual health doctors as well as gay rights groups. People have always had sex while drunk or high, but these three drugs in particular make people lose their inhibitions. GHB is also a mild anaesthetic, which can encourage forceful anal sex, which heightens infection risk. Typically people engaging in chemsex spend two or three days sleeping with multiple partners.

How common is it?

According to a survey of over a thousand gay men in London, one-fifth had had chemsex in the past five years and one-tenth had done it in the past four weeks. According to a recent editorial in the British Medical Journal, some people said they do it to cope with internalised homophobia and negative feelings about their sexuality.

What’s the government going to do about it?

They haven’t gone into much detail yet other than saying doctors should support targeted interventions and collaborate with community groups.

What does that mean?

Hopefully something more effective than just telling people not to do it. There are harm-reduction approaches that could make chemsex safer. For instance, some sexual health clinics provide batches of colour-coded needles, which helps participants stick to their own needles and avoid needle-sharing.

Anything else?

It would help if doctors could provide the medicines that stop people catching HIV free on the NHS. At the moment people in England have to buy cheap generic versions through the internet. And treating everyone who carries the hepatitis C virus would also stop its spread, but at the moment the medicines are only available for people with more advanced liver disease.

SOURCE:

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2140756-what-is-chemsex-and-why-is-the-uk-government-worried-about-it/(accessed 28.9.17)