Chemsex: ‘We, as a community, have lost many partners, friends and lovers to a G overdose’

Then, when I attend house parties, you’ll more than likely find someone who’s fainted in the corner has taken too much of a certain drug. It came to me after a night out with a friend. The next morning, he was getting ready for work, while I made tea, and he was measuring the dose of G to get him through the day. Then I realized he was going through an addiction and he needed support – I don’t know anything about chemsex or the drugs involved but know if this is happening to him, it is happening too. with others in our community, which prompted me to start reacting.

There are three main drugs associated with chemsex: mephedrone, crystal methamphetamine (commonly known as meth) and GHB/GBL, known as G. Mephedrone is a ‘high legal’ drug that was previously known to everyone. ordinary people can buy in the beginning. stores. It comes in powder form and is usually inhaled. When cocaine is in short supply, mephedrone tends to fill that void. But as a chemical drug, it is not as popular in Ireland as it is in the UK.

Crystal meth is an extremely potent stimulant that is becoming a lot more common on the scene in Ireland. It is usually smoked but can be injected, which comes with its own set of problems. Chronic meth smoking can cause a large amount of facial damage and, as body image remains a constant pressure in the gay community, people are slowly turning to the use of drugs. This is less damaging to vision but increases other risks such as blood-borne viruses such as HIV and Hepatitis C if injection equipment is shared. Continued use of meth can lead to addiction, depression, extreme paranoia, and psychosis. Or in severe cases, die from a drug overdose or commit suicide.

G is, by far, the most commonly used drug in Ireland, in the chemsex context. It certainly carries the highest risk of immediate harm. It comes in liquid form and is taken with non-alcoholic beverages. It’s really important not to mix it with alcoholic beverages because it acts on the same receptors in the brain as alcohol, so doing both can exacerbate its effects. G is a depressant that relaxes your central nervous system; Too much can slow down bodily functions dangerously, lead to a temporary coma or worse. It’s a drug with a very steep dose curve, which essentially means it’s very easy to overdose. The amount required for the desired effect is only 0.5ml – it is very small. More seasoned users may experience increased tolerance – they may require higher dosages to achieve the desired effect, which can lead to a precarious dose-guessing game. We, as a community, have lost many partners, friends and lovers to G overdose, which is why accurate harm reduction information is so important.

With such a long list of harms, I am often asked why anyone engages in chemsex. There is no one direct answer other than a multitude of reasons. What unites all three chemsex drugs is their powerful ability to induce euphoria and induce feelings of connection and intimacy while releasing any feelings of inhibition. Just as you or I might end a busy work week and open a bottle of wine to unwind, many people who engage in chemsex do so to relax, have fun, and enjoy themselves. For many people who use these drugs for sex, it can be a desire for a more intense sexual and social experience. The biggest misconception about chemsex is that it is always problematic and that the participants always have some deep-seated problems that they are trying to avoid, but not always.

However, for some people, their participation in chemsex may not be out of self-worth or in the pursuit of pleasure. For some people, it can be a coping mechanism. It is an opportunity to use very strong drugs to get rid of negative feelings. As LGBT people, we all have experiences that can have an adverse effect on our mental health – homophobia, shame, stigma, etc – so chemsex can work like that. a type of plaster. Chemsex can be portrayed as a smug promiscuous, but it’s more complicated than that — some guys are trying to navigate some pretty challenging experiences.

It’s almost impossible to say how many people participate in chemsex in Ireland because of the lack of really Ireland-based data. During the lockdown, I was able to secure funding to conduct a nationwide survey on the pandemic’s impact on gay and bisexual men’s sexual health and well-being. From the results we publish later this month, we can see that some see the pandemic as an opportunity to take a break. [from chemsex] while for others it’s a way of coping.

Back in 2015, when I started looking at the response to chemsex in Ireland, nobody talked about what was happening and certainly very few services were equipped to deal with it. So I looked further to London, where I met paramedic David Stuart, who became a very good friend and mentor. David heads the response to sex and drugs in the gay community around the world – he actually coined the term ‘chemsex’. He was a hero to me and to many others, so his death in January of this year is a huge loss.

When we met, David had just finished a documentary on the subject, so I got the rights to the film and hired Lighthouse Cinema in Smithfield to show it. My intention was to start a discussion about this emerging issue, but I received some backlash from the community. We just got out [marriage equality] referendum in which the dominant narrative revolves around acceptance and normativeness, so to some, it seems like I’ve let the community down by highlighting a cleaner image . But my aim then, as now, was not to shine a negative light on the community. It’s about helping us help people who find them using drugs for hard-to-manage sex and letting them know we’re building a safety net.

The documentary screening gave me the opportunity to invite stakeholders from across the fields of sexual health and addiction, and at the same time, I was able to secure the establishment of a chemistry working group currently located in HSE. I reached out to HIV Ireland in 2018 with the concept of the MPOWER Programme, a one-stop center serving the sexual health needs of men and gay men – including sex – and I have been worked there since then.

The chemsex outreach work we do as part of the MPOWER Program is quite diverse. Some people want to discuss the impact of chemsex on their health – sexual, physical or mental. For others, it can affect their relationships, whether personal or sexual, or their ability to study and work. Consent and sexual assault can also come up as an issue, especially when G is involved. But ultimately, guys want to learn how to use these drugs as safely as possible and to enjoy the sex they want.

Gay men have a strong legacy of taking care of one another in the face of adversity, especially when it comes to our sexual health. It was our turn to take the batons. ”

mpower.hivireland.ie

As told by Katie Byrne