e-prevention and risk reduction in festive environments. Know more, risk less

ChemSex : How aware are you of the risks you’re taking?

With chems, you’re in for a big risk every time

How often do you have ChemSex? Every now and then when you want to have fun, or every time you want to fuck? Whether you’re just looking to relax for fun, have more energy to fuck all night or all weekend, be more enduring for hard FF or SM sex… the reasons for you to do drugs can be as many as the risks taken.

Coke, MD, meph, 4-MEC, Crystal, GHB, hero, weed, blotter, K, Angel dust… All these modestly so-called “recreational” drugs have a significant impact on your health, both physical and mental, in the short and long term. It doesn’t matter if you do lines, snort them, parachute and swallow them, slap them or “plug” them: all these methods involve risks.

A risk to your body

When you do lines and you snort, you damage your nasal walls. When you swallow or you “plug” them, you weaken your mucous membranes. When you inject them, you can cause frequent abscesses at the point of injection

No matter how you take chems, drugs can lead you not to protect yourself or your partner. Under the influence of drugs, you are much more likely to get sexually transmitted infections, HIV or hepatitis

Your level of consciousness is in all cases altered and, sometimes, so altered that you risk losing all sensitivity to pain during SM practices and being injured. If you’re into FF, you risk blowing your rectal mucosa or rectosigmoid hinge and ending up with a temporary artificial anus. During ChemSex, you risk suffering a pulmonary embolism. In case of overconsumption, an overdose can lead to a coma, or even cause your death by overdose

With each dose, chems will damage certain organs always a little more, causing, for example, diseases of the liver, kidneys, nervous system, or early death of neurons.

Know more, risk less

Share your material you will not…
When doing a line or “slamming,” do not share nor reuse your material with other people (including straws, water, filters, cottons, spoons, tourniquets…).

 

Dependence
All drugs can make you dependent, that is, you will no longer be able to fuck without them or to cope with everyday life. This phenomenon varies in intensity and speed depending on the drugs but also according to the frequency of your use.

Some helpful tips
If you want more information or if you want to stop using drugs, there is a service to help you: droguesinfoservice.fr gives you free answers, advice and guidance by chat or by phone (0 800 23 13 13 13). A directory of addictology consultations is also available on their website in the Useful contacts section. Don’t hesitate to talk to your doctor or pharmacist about your drug use: they can inform you about the risks you are taking, depending on your situation and treatments, but also invite you to change to a treatment with a lower risk of interactions.

A risk to your mental health

A risk to your mental health: Temporary or long-term mental disorders are caused by drugs. They appear first at the time of use or shortly afterwards: mood changes, anxiety and panic attacks, loss of self-control, behavioural disorders, delusions, psychotic episodes, personality disorders, paranoia… If you “consume” too frequently, these disorders can become long-term and lead to serious psychiatric disorders: chronic depression, psychosis, paranoia or schizophrenia.

A risk to your social life

A risk to your social life: This risk may be temporary or long-lasting depending on the amount consumed and the level of dependence. It includes: isolation, marginalisation, social exclusion, professional (or academic) failure, violence or accidents.

Do you slam?

The phenomenon of “slamming” refers to drug injection practices in a sexual context. Increasingly widespread in the gay community, this practice increases sexual risk-taking, exposing you to different sexually transmitted infections (including HIV). When you inject a product, you can cause abscesses at the point of injection (sex or arms, in particular) or become infected more easily with hepatitis C.

It’s time to consult! Some signs that should worry you

You’re using more and more drugs, you can’t stop anymore?

You don’t have any more drug-free sex?

Do you feel like you’re losing control?

Does it cost you more and more?

Are you absent from work because of drugs?

Are you cumulating bad trips, fainting spells?

Have you ever OD’ed?

Are you aggressive, anxious, depressed, or do you have trouble sleeping?

These are, among other things, indications that it is time to consult a doctor about your drug use.

In partnership with
IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY
• In any case call or have somebody call 112 or 15 (in France)
• if the person is conscious :
- keep him/her awake by talking to her.
• if the person is uncounscious : undo his/her tight clothes, check if he/she’s breathing and put him/her in recovery position
• stay with him/her until emergency services arrive and inquire about the location of a defibrillator