CHEMSEX: From Condom Packs to Slamming Packs

I was honoured to be asked to write an article for the Cork PRIDE 2018 magazine.

In 2003 myself & Moss Naughton began working together for the Southern Gay Men's Health Project on South Main Street, part of the Cork Gay Project. One of the many tasks we had to perform was the monotonous yet somewhat satisfying job of packing two regular condoms and a sachet of lube into our custom-made SGMHP condom wallets which we would then distribute at bars like Taboo, Loafers, and Instinct. Fast forward 11 years and I'm working in a busy London sexual health clinic still giving out condom packs, but I'm also handing over a slamming pack, containing clean needles, syringes, a spoon, filter & thermometer and other drug paraphernalia. How did we get here?

How did we get here?

I mean no judgement with that question. We have thankfully moved past that phase of wagging fingers and tutting about others behaviours. Health professionals in the field of sexual health, health promotion and drug services know that this doesn't work. Lots of people have fun on drugs, for them, it doesn't impact on their health, their partners' health, their life; work & home. However, through my work in the NHS and private practice, many men partake in chemsex who aren't in control, who are picking up multiple STI's, HIV, Hepatitis C, losing their relationship, their jobs or home, some are even losing their lives.

Before the chems, there was sex

For those of you who don't know, chemsex can be defined as the use of three specific drugs by gay men (GHB/GBL ['G'], crystal methamphetamine ['crystal meth,' 'Tina,' 'Ice'], and mephedrone ['meow meow,' 'M-CAT,']), used in a sexual context.

The notion of chemsex only came about in around 2010; this doesn't mean that sex and drugs among the gay community weren't linked before this, but the drugs of choice back then were cocaine, ecstasy & MDMA and the idea that groups of gay men would be injecting drugs was unthinkable.

Lots have been written about chemsex so for a moment I want to take drugs out of the equation and focus on sex. Sex is complicated - it's physical and emotional pleasure in one, and both of these can be addictive. Working with gay men before there were any apps or chemsex, men were seeking advice on trying to wean off the amount of unsatisfying sex they were having as it wasn't fulfilling them emotionally or physically. For many of these men, they were looking for more than just sex; they were actually looking for a connection, to be themselves, to be intimate but not always in a sexual way. This was (and is) difficult for men; living in a society that is heteronormative and after going through an educational system that doesn't prepare gay (or straight) teenagers for relationships and sex, men found themselves going for the quick route, that is, meeting online or public sex environments and having sex, then fleeing. The instant gratification lasting for as long as the interaction did, leaving feelings of shame and guilt, then repeating this cycle over and over again.

Add arousing and exciting drugs like GHB, methadrone or crystal meth, and you've got an insidious, complex problem. Not just the spread of STI's, including HIV but also the dependency these drugs can create. It’s also common to see men in clinics unable to have sober sex (sex without drugs), they fear it won't be the same or that their performance capabilities will be diminished. While hook-up apps have made meeting up much easier, they have also made it more convenient to find drugs and like-minded people.

"Everyone's doing it."

I hear this a lot in the clinic. Statistics from Ireland prove that this is not the case with only 27% of the respondents to a questionnaire saying that they had engaged in chemsex in the last 12 months. However, there seems to be a higher proportion of people on hook-up apps who are 'into chems’ and for people coming out, taking a tentative step and exploring their sexuality or those who have just found themselves single for the first time in years, downloading these apps and seeing what's out there, it makes sense that people feel, that to be part of LGBTQ society in 2018, involves trying chems.

The thing that struck me the most when the number of referrals for chemsex counselling shot up was these men weren’t what you would expect. They were educated men, in good jobs, with supportive social networks. They didn't fit the stereotype of a drug user. This caused it's own problems and meant that conventional drug services didn't know what to do with these men and the men themselves felt that it wasn't the place for them to access support; hence sexual health clinics became the hub of safer drug use, support, and counselling.

This was one of the reasons I decided to write a novel, THE G CLUB. I wanted to illustrate the story of an upwardly mobile man who appears to have everything; husband, good job, and friends, who experiences a loss in his life which destroys him, so he enters the world of London's chemsex scene to deal with his pain. What I wanted to get across was the notion that this could happen to any of us.

If I were to offer any advice, it would be this: if you are having sex, with or without chems and you aren’t enjoying it, or you are doing it for the wrong reasons - it’s time to speak to someone.

THE G CLUB is available from Amazon and iTunes/iBooks. For more information check out www.paulmadden.info.

#Pride #Cork #CorkPride #Chemsex #Ireland #gayireland