Adult Trend Focus: substances associated with chemsex

This year’s Adult Trend Focus is centred on the main substances used in the local chemsex scene – crystal methamphetamine, GHB (Gamma-Hydroxybutyric Acid) and related substances, and mephedrone. ‘Chemsex’ refers to combining the use of specific substances (‘chemicals’) with sex to facilitate and/or enhance both experiences. The term chemsex is predominantly associated with men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM), although it is increasingly acknowledged that chemsex does not exclusively involve MSM. Some UK academics studying sexualised drug use beyond MSM have coined the term ‘Pharmacosex’ to describe the ways in which wider populations experiment with a range of illicit drugs that modify and enhance their sex lives (Moyle et al., 2020). These authors argue that chemsex is just one specific type of pharmacosex. We note that other terms are also commonly used such as ‘party and play’ (this term has more traditionally been used in the USA and Australia rather than ‘chemsex’) and ‘hot and horny’. These terms, often abbreviated to ‘P&P’ and ‘H&H’ are particularly used on ‘hook-up’ Apps such as Grindr. However, ‘chemsex’ is the most established and used term in the UK by a range of stakeholders and hence the term that we use here. A wide range of substances were reported to be used in a chemsex session (including chillout sessions). These include alcohol, benzodiazepines (e.g., ‘Xanax’/alprazolam and ‘Valium’/diazepam), cannabis, powder cocaine, crack cocaine, ketamine, Viagra and Zopiclone. However, the three main substances associated with chemsex are: crystal methamphetamine (aka ‘crystal meth’, ‘tina’ or ‘T’), mephedrone (methylmethcathinone, aka ‘M-Cat’ or ‘meow-meow’), and GHB (full name gammahydroxybutyrate) or GBL1 (full name, gamma-butyrolactone). GHB and GBL are both most commonly and generically referred to as ‘G’ or ‘Gina’. Crystal methamphetamine and mephedrone are stimulants whereas GHB and GBL are depressants. Popular definitions of chemsex refer to the use of at least one of these three substances as they are associated with inducing euphoria and disinhibition, enhancing sexual arousal, and increasing sexual performance. Hence, the focus of this 2022 Adult Trend Focus is primarily on the changes to the availability, price, and use of these three substances most closely associated with chemsex in the Greater Manchester region