ssh-chemsex-study-final-main-report

“ I was always anti-drugs, yeah, very much. Basically I
used to fancy this guy very, very much. And when he
came to my place and he said, “Oh, would you have
some?” Because I fancy him I thought okay, so let’s
have some to share together […] So the first time
which was, we snorted some mephedrone. We smoked
some meth. And we had a bit of G, you know, it’s
the kind of normal concoction of gay sex with them
drugs. ”
[Aged 31, last tested HIV negative]
It is important to keep these accounts of sudden and
unexpected induction into drug use in perspective. While
they are dramatic they were not the norm. The norm
for these men was a progression from other drugs (like
ecstacy or cocaine) that were typically used for clubbing
and dancing, and as a precursor to sex with new partners
met whilst clubbing, towards drugs specifically taken to
facilitate more satisfying sex, with other men taking the
same or similar drugs.
JORGE’S STORY
Jorge is 27 and moved to London from Colombia two
years ago. He works as a barman in Soho. He started
using mephedrone when he went to “chill outs” with
friends after a night out. They sometimes would
end up at a sauna as well and he would be offered
mepehdrone or GHB by other men. It’s usually around
and plentiful; he never really buys it himself but is
offered it by a lot of older guys. He doesn’t want to
take crystal meth – it seems like a really dirty drug
to him, especially if you inject it. He gets frustrated
with men on apps asking him for drugs or wanting
chemsex all the time as he doesn’t need to use drugs
to enjoy sex and worries what the different drugs do
to his body. He had really wanted to meet a boyfriend
but it is difficult with the men on the apps who just
seem to want quick sex. He is concerned about HIV
and almost always has safe sex. Very occasionally
he gets carried away with the moment and has not
checked that they are wearing a condom. Once he
took too much GHB with a guy he met on an app
and fell into a G sleep. When he woke up the guy
was fucking him without a condom. Jorge was really
freaked out, especially when a friend later told him
he thought this guy was HIV positive. Fortunately the
friend knew about PEP and went with him to access
it straight away. The whole experience has been a bit
of a wake-up call and he has been a little reluctant to
take GHB again during sex. He’d prefer to have fewer
drugs and to fall in love.
4.3 MEANS OF DRUG DELIVERY INCLUDING INJECTING
The key drugs used for chemsex can all be used in a
variety of ways: crystal meth comes as coarse crystals
that can be crushed and snorted or smoked, or mixed
and injected; mephedrone is usually a powder and can
be mixed with a drink, but is usually snorted or injected;
and GHB/GBL is usually in liquid form to be mixed with
a drink but can be powdered. Less popular means of
administration include a “Booty bump” (mixing the
powder with water and injecting it into the rectum with
a needle-less syringe cartridge) or pushing powder or
tablet into the rectum with a finger, penis or sex toy. It is
absorbed quickly when rectally administered and may be
less painful than snorting and avoids the tell-tale signs
of nasal drug use such as a running nose. However, the
crystals may damage the lining of the rectum or cause
fissures, which may facilitate HIV transmission.
In the same way as the participants portrayed heroin
and crack as “bad drugs”, which are substantially worse
than any they were taking, so injecting (or slamming)
was reviled and feared by many of the participants
in the study. Two thirds of all participants had never
injected and, among these, many were incredulous when
they observed injecting occurring around them. These
participants often conceived of injecting as ‘crossing a
line’ from sex and drugs for recreation into addictive
behaviour.
“ But not for you, injecting? So you haven’t done it
yourself?
Never, there’s just certain boundaries I have and that
would be one of them. I don’t see the point. I think it’s
incredibly dangerous. My friend, his new boyfriend,
The Chemsex Study | 4. THE CONTEXT OF CHEMSEX 34