The Met police have reported that there have been over 60 deaths linked to the use of drugs during sex – including murder.
Last week the Metropolitan Police in partnership with Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (London) (HMPPS) conducted a conference at which they discussed the rise of Chemsex and the issues that it has caused, particularly for the gay and bi male community.
Over the years London’s police force has managed to link over 60 deaths to drug use, including murder. The most high profile of these were the murders of Stephen Port’s victims.
According to the police, there have been more than 60 fatal overdoses linked to Class A drugs such as Gamma Hydroxybutyrate (GHB) and Gamma-Butyrolactone (GBL) in London.
Crisis of our Time
The Met’s LGBT+ Advisory Group have described chemsex as the ‘crisis of our time’ for LGBT+ communities
Detective Chief Superintendent Helen Lyons, the Met’s Lead Responsible Officer for Rape, said: “The Met recognises that crime in a chemsex context is not an isolated issue of sexual offending or substance misuse. Chemsex-related vulnerability and offending are considerably under-reported while levels of complexity are vast.”
“Drug use is prompting extreme and criminal behaviour among those who might otherwise be law-abiding citizens”
Stephen Morris, Chemsex and Crime Lead for HMPPS said, “The rise in chemsex-related crime is a real challenge because the things driving someone to offend are incredibly complex and very different to anything we have dealt with before”.
“Drug use is prompting extreme and criminal behaviour among those who might otherwise be law-abiding citizens. That is why we are working with the police, mental health and drug misuse services to better understand this crime and provide support that steers offenders and potential offenders away from it.”
“Lessons learnt from murder investigations, proactive drug supply operations, the case management of offenders within the chemsex scene will be complemented by inputs from public health leads and academic experts. This will enable the sharing of an emerging model of good practice, which will help provide awareness nationally.
Is Chemsex Illegal?
Physical possession, supply or possession with the intent to supply is a criminal offence. However, you won’t be arrested for using drugs whilst having sex.
Do we really need more fear around drug use? 60 is not a meaningful fraction of the (at least) 100,000s of gay men in the capital. I’d be surprised if the majority of those 60 people weren’t careful law-fearing people who turned to drugs because they realized that doing what the government says your whole life isn’t a guide to happiness. People need calmly supplied and accurate information around the drugs they are inevitably going to take, so they can take them in safe dosages and environments, in a way that makes sense for what they want to experience, and in a culture that encourages mindfulness of the underlying causes of desiring those drugs in the first place. I’d also like to see our poltiics begin to tackle how the severe lack of housing contributes to the loneliness, desperation and, naturally, unsafe sex practices like these. Most the times I’ve done drugs are because I went to someone’s house for sex or a sex party, due to being unable to host. If our country wasn’t so deliberately blind to the growing population and decades-long deficit in housing, we might all have access to a safer environments and attitudes with which to satisfy our sexual urges.