Chemsex

As far back as 1999, New York Magazine’s article ‘Nightlife ‘99: Clear And Present Danger’  said “GHB first became a fixture at raves and gay “circuit parties” in the early nineties. The FDA declared the drug unsafe and illegal to market in 1990, and several states have banned it because of its use as a date-rape drug.”

Before the word chemsex was coined, ‘slamming’, PnP, ‘parTy’, ‘HnH’, and ‘chem friendly’ were/ are shorthand for gay men using  this new generation of drugs, the slang appearing on hook-up apps Inc. Grindr, Recon, Bareback Real Time (BBRT), Gaydar, and Scruff. Chemsex, as it would eventually be called, is not the same as popping a pill, snorting a line, or smoking a joint. Instead, it’s a specific form of recreational drug use.

Chemsex is a term used mainly by professionals (and media) to describe when gay, bi, and other men who have sex with men use certain drugs – crystal meth, mephedrone, or GHB/ GBL – to have sex, often for long periods and/ or with multiple partners. The term isn’t commonly used by men who take part, who may just talk about “T”, “G”, or “getting high and hooking up”.

While the label helps services talk about overlapping issues like sex, drugs, consent, and health, not everyone agrees with the term or feels it reflects their experience. While phrases like “using any combination of these drugs to help facilitate, enable or enhance sex” may help professionals, not so much gay men. Other drugs are used but some argue this distorts the original definition. Crystal and meph are uppers speeding up the body’s reactions while GHB/ GBL is a downer slowing down the body’s reactions. Usually, crystal is smoked in a glass pipe or injected, GHB or GBL is added to soft drinks in small millilitre (ml) dose amounts, and mephedrone is injected.