Saturday 17th Oct – (2) ‘Chemsex’
‘Chemsex’ was a frank and often shocking documentary about the phenomenon of vast numbers of gay men who have sex whilst under the influence of a cocktail of drugs, most often the popular horse tranquiliser, ketamine (or ‘K’), and gamma-Hydroxybutyric acid (‘G’ or ‘GHB’). The former, snorted, largely to make some more exotic sex practices less painful, the latter, injected, to act as a stimulant/aphrodisiac. Injecting has been re-branded ‘slamming’ but, for those of us slightly phobic of needles, the act looks no less grim on film. The chief problem with chemsex, aside from the considerable risk of an overdose, is that it has led to a considerable rise in HIV transmission, resulting from men’s lowered inhibitions and needle-sharing. In addition, chemsex parties, advertised as ‘chill out sessions’ are a standard advertisement on gay dating apps, with unprotected sex often a ‘requirement’.
The documentary covered the work of the Dean Street health clinic, which seems to be leading the way in researching the phenomenon of chemsex and in assisting gay men to get clean or to manage the risks better. The health worker who was interviewed could see that this wasn’t just a sex or a drug issue but that counselling was very often key. Still, it was heart-breaking to see young men seeming to care so little about themselves that they would risk their health and their lives for a bit of fun.