​Scottish Drugs Forum says evidence has been found for "chemsex" in Glasgow

A risky sexual practice has been identified in Scotland for the first time.

Chemsex involves men ingesting or injecting themselves with stimulants and attending sex parties.

Sexual health workers say it could lead to practitioners, who use drugs such as crystal meth, prey to disease and misadventure.

Now, the Scottish Drugs Forum (SDF) says there is evidence of the craze appearing in Scotland for the first time.

Warnings have previously been made among the gay community of the risk of overdose, panic attacks, convulsions, serious mental health problems and sexual assault.

“It has been growing - sex and drugs have been going on for hundreds and hundreds of years, but it has been growing recently

SDF says there have now been reports of the practice among men attending health services in Glasgow.

It says the practice must be addressed in the next Sexual Health and Blood-bourne Virus Framework, which will be launched in September.

This would alert professionals and the wider community about the practice.

SDF says it has been working with frontline staff on the issue, including presenting a chemsex “masterclass” for Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board and the city’s Sandyford sexual health centre.

It will also be one of the topics discussed at an SDF conference on 30 April.

Among those attending will be David Stuart, substance abuse lead at the 56 Dean Street sexual health clinic in London.

He contributed to a recent study by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical medicine into chemsex and its health risks and has created online support information for help health workers.

He defined it as: “The clinical term, which I hate, is sexualised drug use by men who have sex with men. Chemsex is a term that came from apps like Grindr, Bareback Real Time and others. Chemsex is just the slang term for sexualised drug use by men who have sex with men. It’s usually defined by the use of crystal meth, mephedrone, GHB/GBL – just to facilitate sex.

“It has been growing – sex and drugs have been going on in different populations going back hundreds and hundreds of years, so it’s not incredibly new, but it has been growing recently.

“About ten years ago we really started to see it in an epidemiological way.”