Harsher penalties should be handed down for possession of a range of drugs used by gay men for chemsex, the government’s drug policy advisers have recommended, amid a raft of warnings on their dangers including a heightened risk of murder.
Chemsex is a colloquial term used to describe sex between men that occurs under the influence of drugs, which are taken immediately preceding or during sex to enhance the experience.
Gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB), gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) and closely related substances, collectively referred to as GHBRS, give euphoric and stimulant-like effects. Recreational use is also higher among men who engage in chemsex.
The Advisory Council on the Misuse of
Drugs (ACMD) has recommended reclassifying the GHRBs from class C to class B, meaning possession could be punished with up to five years in prison, rather than two years. Supply can lead to 14 years in prison for both class B and C drugs.
The advisers’ report laid out a series of significant dangers associated with GHBRS. In the UK GHBRS have been used to facilitate serious crimes, including murder, rape, sexual assault and robbery, the report said. It highlighted the cases of Stephen Port and Gerald Matovu as evidence of GHBRS being used as a murder weapon.
