As fears mount about G, mephedrone, and crystal use among gay and bisexual men, GMFA has launched a new NHS-backed campaign to stop people overdosing. It’s pretty amazing.
GMFA
Now leading HIV charity GMFA (Gay Men Fighting Aids) is trying a radically different approach with Safer Chems, an NHS-backed campaign that seems almost deliberately designed to enrage middle England. The message of the project is this: If you are going to take drugs – say, at an all-weekend bareback slamming party – why not do it in a way that won't kill you?
The campaign comes with practical tips on how to do just that. These include using the plastic, fish-shaped, soy sauce bottles found in sushi boxes to measure out GHB, and popping along to London's Burrell Street Clinic to pick up a free "slamming" pack, with all the equipment and handy hints you need to safely inject – for instance – meth.
GMFA
These range from G (GHB/GHL) and MDMA to crystal methamphetamine and mephedrone, all of which are used for "chem" sex sessions.
Antidote, the counselling service for LGBT people with alcohol and drug problems, has seen a drastic rise in the number of clients seeking help. In 2005/6, three people sought treatment at the service for G use. In 2013/14, it was 334. For crystal meth, there were no clients asking for help with meth problems 10 years ago, but in 2013/14 there were 373.
Code, a specialist sexual health clinic in London for gay/bi men involved in hardcore sex and drugs use, found that 19% of its patients had used G and 10% had used meth in the past six months. In one London hospital – St Thomas' – 270 patients were treated in 2010 alone for medical problems associated with G use.
How many of the hospital admissions comprise LGBT people isn't known. But one of the main reasons for this new campaign is the alarming proportion of users who overdose through a basic lack of knowledge. A fifth of dabblers with G, for example, have accidentally overdosed, the Global Drugs Survey revealed.
The statistic chimes with the experience of users, who describe G as one of the hardest drugs to measure. Tiny increases in volume – even of half a millilitre – can dramatically influence the effects. Hence GMFA's suggestion of using the tiny soy sauce bottles.
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