IN RECENT MONTHS the alarm has been set to slut red in both the mainstream and gay press about a small, but seemingly surging, number of gay men engaging in what has been termed “chemsex”. The Guardian cries, “It’s a horror story!” while The Telegraph calls chemsex an “alarming new trend”. This coverage was timed cosily with the release of the British documentary about the gay sex and drug scene. Also called Chemsex, it was concocted by the über-hip Vice magazine, which is a bit of worry knowing what a juvenile publication it can be.
Despite the movie’s personal tales of gay men getting horny and high and then feeling damaged emotionally, physically and mentally afterwards, the concept is nothing new. Gay men and sex-enhancers have a long history. They were having drug-fuelled orgies in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s before the advent of AIDS, so to view “chemsex” as a new problem doesn’t put it in its true historical context.
How did gay men go from popping an ecstasy pill, sniffing poppers or doing a bump of K on the dance floor to engaging in what can only be described as hard drug usage? There is no question that for users it’s all about chasing that elusive big “rush” which slamming [injecting] delivers. In the UK the preferred drug of choice to slam is mephedrone. At the cost of just a couple of glasses of beer for a big bag of white powder it can keep you going all weekend and longer if you need. It releases an intoxicating feeling of being both high and horny, which is what true chemsex aims to attain.