The Question Of Chemsex
Guys using hook-up apps like Grindr are used to answering a number of questions. “Top? Bottom? Masc? NSA?”
But now there is an increasingly common question being asked: "Chems?"
What's the right answer? What does it even mean?
The high of meeting someone online or on the dance floor is no longer enough for a number of gay Londoners who use recreational drugs in the bedroom, the act dubbed "chemsex."
Ecstasy and cocaine might be popular in the intimacy of nightclub toilets, but the city’s living rooms and bedrooms are playgrounds for crystal meth, GHB and mephedrone. Boosting libido while suppressing inhibitions and sleep, these narcotics are the after-party aphrodisiacs of choice for a growing number of gay men.
They've also been linked to comas, heart failures and death.
Chemsex parties also offer an invitation to a rather unwelcome guest: HIV
A 2014 South London study found 75% of gay men who had chemsex did not use a condom, while 56 Dean Street, Europe’s busiest sexual health clinic, estimates it sees more than 3,000 men a month requiring STD tests after having chemsex.
Filmgoers will get to see what goes on behind closed doors in December, when Vice’s documentary Chemsex is released. It's a candid look at the chemsex scene that's far from erotic. From intravenous drug use as the sun comes up, to dark stories of staggering from strangers’ beds and into homelessness and prostitution, it's sober viewing.
56 Dean Street hopes the doc will encourage men in the scene to pursue a healthier sex life and rediscover natural highs, whether with a one-night stand or a long-term relationship.
Having tried chemsex himself, 39-year-old civil servant Mark says its ultimately not for him.
“I'd rather enjoy the moment as it should be: two guys mutually caught up in a personal, sensual moment, unaffected by chemicals they probably know little if anything about.”
Some see reclaiming that sensual moment as the answer to the rise in chemsex. After all, everyone has a right to enjoy dopamine (triggering a rush of pleasure), serotonin (inducing a state of deep calm) and oxytocin (increasing the sense of intimacy), the natural chemicals produced while having sex.
And theres no needles required.
To learn more about chemsex—including how to get clean—click here.
