Guidance

Substance misuse services for men involved in chemsex

Briefing for drug and alcohol commissioners and providers about men who have sex with men (MSM) who use drugs before or during sexual activity (chemsex).

Documents

Substance misuse services for men who have sex with men involved in chemsex

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Details

This briefing highlights the main points relating to men who have sex with men (MSM) who use drugs before or during sexual activity, referred to as ‘chemsex’. The content of this briefing may also apply to the wider MSM and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) populations, and substance misuse services.

Chemsex commonly involves crystal methamphetamine, gammahydroxybutyrate (GHB), gammabutyrolactone (GBL) and mephedrone, and sometimes the injection of these drugs, which is known as ‘slamming’.

Drug and alcohol commissioners and service providers can use this to gain:

  • background information
  • recent data
  • prompts for local areas and services
  • case studies

Updates to this page

Published 1 November 2015

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