INFORMATION
What is chemsex?
Is it safe?
Do I engage in chemsex?
The term “chemsex” was originally used to describe the emergence of a particular type of sexualized drug use. By this we mean people using three key drugs - alone or more likely in some type of combination - for the purpose of having sex, enhancing sex and exploring different types of sex.
The 3 main drugs have typically been Crystal meth (often known as Tina) Mephedrone (often called Mcat) and GHB/GBL (often known as G). Each drug has different effects which when combined are said to enhance the experience of sex.
The term Chemsex has become widely used in recent years within the LGBTQ+ community. It has been widely recorded that primarily cisgender (a person whose gender identity corresponds to their sex assigned at birth) gay and bisexual men use these drugs in a “chemsex setting”. This may be by finding a local party to hook up with and have sex with others who are using the drugs, or to meet people on apps such as Grindr and perhaps having sex with one or more people in their own homes.
Many people engage in Chemsex and do not ever report significant harmful effects. However some who engage in Chemsex go on to experience problems with mental health, sexual health, physical health, addiction, overdose, financial issues and a wider impact on work, relationships and wellbeing.
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You may think that you don’t currently fit in to the definition of a Chemsex user, however you may use one of these substances alone or you may use substances such as Ketamine, cocaine or benzodiazepines for a similar purpose.
We understand that the amount of different people, including women, heterosexual and trans people, using these substances and others is increasing and there may be some more information that you can find useful from these pages.
