{"id":1133,"date":"2015-12-04T16:29:14","date_gmt":"2015-12-04T16:29:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/sti\/?p=1133"},"modified":"2015-12-04T16:29:14","modified_gmt":"2015-12-04T16:29:14","slug":"so-how-much-do-we-actually-know-about-the-risks-posed-by-chemsex","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/sti\/2015\/12\/04\/so-how-much-do-we-actually-know-about-the-risks-posed-by-chemsex\/","title":{"rendered":"So how much do we actually know about the risks posed by \u2018chemsex\u2019?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A recent <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bmj.com\/content\/351\/bmj.h5790\">BMJ editorial<\/a> (3<sup>rd<\/sup> November) calls for \u2018chemsex\u2019 (the term used by the gay community to designate sex under the influence of drugs taken to heighten pleasure) to be made a \u2018public health priority\u2019.\u00a0 The editorial has evidently been triggered by the publication of findings from a research project conducted by <a href=\"http:\/\/sigmaresearch.org.uk\/about\">Sigma Research<\/a> and commissioned by the London Boroughs of Lambeth, Southward and Lewisham (LSL).\u00a0 These have recently appeared both in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lambeth.gov.uk\/sites\/default\/files\/ssh-chemsex-study-final-main-report.pdf\">official report<\/a> (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.sigmaresearch.org.uk\/files\/report2014b.pdf\">Executive Summary<\/a>), and in papers in various journals, including STIs (see <a href=\"http:\/\/sti.bmj.com\/content\/early\/2015\/07\/09\/sextrans-2015-052052.abstract\">Bourne &amp; Weatherburn (STIs)<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>So far as the nature of chemsex itself is concerned, there is an informative short guide produced by 56 Dean Street that offers a down-to-earth insight into the nature of \u2018chemsex\u2019 events (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.eatg.org\/news\/171554\/ChemSex_and_hepatitis_C%3A_a_guide_for_healthcare_providers\">ChemSex and heptatis C\/STIs\/blog<\/a>).\u00a0 \u00a0On importance of the phenomenon for STI transmission within the MSM community, however, there would seem to remain considerable uncertainty \u2013 at least according to the editorial.\u00a0 Evidence for condom use and sero-sorting in this setting would be a helpful indicator of degree of risk, but is apparently a contested issue in the current literature.<\/p>\n<p>So what does the Chemsex Study itself have to contribute on these issues? \u00a0Concerning the extent of the chemsex phenomenon, it gives a \u2018quantitative context\u2019 on the basis of data from EMIS (<a href=\"http:\/\/ecdc.europa.eu\/en\/publications\/Publications\/EMIS-2010-european-men-who-have-sex-with-men-survey.pdf\">European Men-who-have-sex-with men Survey<\/a>). \u00a0The analysis of this data indicates a proportion of MSM living in LSL who have used drugs known to be employed for chemsex that is respectively seven-fold (GHB\/GBL), and eight-fold (crystal meth), what we find amongst MSM elsewhere in the UK \u2013 as against a proportion for other drugs that is two or three-fold.<\/p>\n<p>Regarding risks posed by behaviours associated with chemsex events \u2013 the question discussed by <a href=\"http:\/\/sti.bmj.com\/content\/early\/2015\/07\/09\/sextrans-2015-052052.abstract\">Bourne &amp; Weatherburn (STIs)<\/a> \u2013 the Chemsex Study employs qualitative data from a thematic analysis of 30 interviews conducted with MSM having participated in such events from LSL.<\/p>\n<p>The researchers isolate four key \u2018narratives\u2019.\u00a0 (1) More than a quarter, all sero-positive, had made a conscious decision to engage in unprotected anal intercourse (UAI) with those they believed were sero-concordant. (2) A third found it hard to control their behaviour under the influence of drugs, and took risks they subsequently regretted.\u00a0 (3) A \u2018small sample\u2019 sought out risky sex.\u00a0 (4) A \u2018sizeable minority\u2019 felt perfectly in control of their actions, and relatively safe, while engaging in chemsex.\u00a0 The authors do not indicate whether, and how far, these four groups overlap, and how the membership of any but the first correlates with HIV sero-status.<\/p>\n<p>They conclude there is little evidence that use of drugs had influenced engagement in UAI, though their use had facilitated sex with more men and for longer.\u00a0 Much, it would seem, remains to be clarified by future studies.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A recent BMJ editorial (3rd November) calls for \u2018chemsex\u2019 (the term used by the gay community to designate sex under the influence of drugs taken to heighten pleasure) to be made a \u2018public health priority\u2019.\u00a0 The editorial has evidently been triggered by the publication of findings from a research project conducted by Sigma Research and [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/sti\/2015\/12\/04\/so-how-much-do-we-actually-know-about-the-risks-posed-by-chemsex\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":152,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4378,264,4363],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chemsex","category-health-policy","category-hiv-and-drugs"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>So how much do we actually know about the risks posed by \u2018chemsex\u2019? - Sexually Transmitted Infections<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/sti\/2015\/12\/04\/so-how-much-do-we-actually-know-about-the-risks-posed-by-chemsex\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"So how much do we actually know about the risks posed by \u2018chemsex\u2019? - Sexually Transmitted Infections\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A recent BMJ editorial (3rd November) calls for \u2018chemsex\u2019 (the term used by the gay community to designate sex under the influence of drugs taken to heighten pleasure) to be made a \u2018public health priority\u2019.\u00a0 The editorial has evidently been triggered by the publication of findings from a research project conducted by Sigma Research and [...]Read More...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/sti\/2015\/12\/04\/so-how-much-do-we-actually-know-about-the-risks-posed-by-chemsex\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sexually Transmitted Infections\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-12-04T16:29:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/sti\\\/2015\\\/12\\\/04\\\/so-how-much-do-we-actually-know-about-the-risks-posed-by-chemsex\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/sti\\\/2015\\\/12\\\/04\\\/so-how-much-do-we-actually-know-about-the-risks-posed-by-chemsex\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"So how much do we actually know about the risks posed by \u2018chemsex\u2019?\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-12-04T16:29:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/sti\\\/2015\\\/12\\\/04\\\/so-how-much-do-we-actually-know-about-the-risks-posed-by-chemsex\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":462,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/sti\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"ChemSex\",\"health policy\",\"HIV and drugs\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/sti\\\/2015\\\/12\\\/04\\\/so-how-much-do-we-actually-know-about-the-risks-posed-by-chemsex\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/sti\\\/2015\\\/12\\\/04\\\/so-how-much-do-we-actually-know-about-the-risks-posed-by-chemsex\\\/\",\"name\":\"So how much do we actually know about the risks posed by \u2018chemsex\u2019? 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