It is a sexual practice which consists in adding synthetic drugs to increase sensations or even develop fantasies that can last several hours, even several days.
The practice is not new, drugs have often been associated with sex. But in recent years, a practice seems to drift, it is chemsex. Contraction of “sex” and “chemicals”. The extent of this phenomenon is immense, so much so that the New York Times compares it to the AIDS epidemic that hit the gay community in the 1980s, a kind of AIDS 2.0.
“It becomes very bestial, the box of fantasies it works, it really goes into overbidding and also, the limits, we break them quickly. One of the problems of chemsex is that it leads to sexuality. There is a re-education. a bit to do with that, but once we have experienced the maximum pleasure, it is sure that often chemsexeurs, the feedback, is “now, what do I do?” My sexuality seems flat to me ”, explains Johann Zarca to the media Raw. The author was interested in this practice and made a novel of it: “Chems”.
A considerable public health problem
In France, this practice, which primarily affects the homosexual community, is experiencing an undeniable development in the Parisian milieu. Recently, it has been considered a public health problem. 3-MMC, 4-MMC, 4-MEC … These strange names are synthetic drugs. The latter are unknown to the general public and yet they cause inconsiderable havoc. These synthetic drugs make it possible to multiply the pleasures and maintain sexual performance for several hours, even several days. “Sometimes it’s orgies that last forty-eight hours. We go from apartment to apartment. Some guys leave, others come: things keep going and the drugs help you hold on ”, describes Stéphane, to the media Slate.
The consequences of this sexual practice are disastrous, first on the psychiatric level, most consumers develop anxiety disorders, prolonged panic attacks or the occurrence of insomnia, paranoia, depression or even ideas. suicidal. In terms of health, sex with synthetic drugs is associated with dangerous sexual practices. From herpes to HIV, the increase in sexually transmitted infections is very significant. According to a survey conducted by the French Observatory for Drugs and Drug Addiction (OFDT) in 2019, nearly one “Chemsexeur“In three is HIV positive. Obviously, followers multiply the risk of addiction. Chemsexists can thus be the victim of an overdose crisis, sometimes fatal and also amplify the risk of cardiovascular accident.
A taboo phenomenon in society and trivialized in the gay community
Synthetic drugs are easily accessible ” Just go to gay dating apps: a third of profiles offer chemsex ”, deplores Jean-Luc Romero at theAlter echoes . The regional councilor of Île-de-France, deputy mayor of Paris 12th century, is also an activist in the fight against AIDS. Two years after the death of her husband Christophe Michel, aged 31, following an overdose during a chemsex session, the politician wants the mechanism of silence around this practice to be lifted in the political sphere. “I have never heard a Minister of Health talk about designer drugs or chemsex. However, in five or six years, this will concern all audiences. As always, it starts in the United States, then it happens in Europe … There is a taboo from the public authorities on what is happening. And it is also a taboo among those who practice chemsex. They quickly realize that they are caught in a gear. “, explains Jean-Luc Romero.
