MPs sound the alert and ask for a « national prevention strategy » – Liberation

In the wake of the overall increase in drug use Among the French, dangerous and addictive practices are also increasing. This is the case with Chemsex. Based on the contraction of « chemicals » (chemicals) and « sex », it designates consuming psychotropic products in order to intensify and /or prolong sex. Several deputies of all political stripes have decided to alert on the rise of this practice, through a proposal for a resolution which was voted this Monday, March 31 in the National Assembly.

On the initiative of the Northern MP (EPR) Brigitte Liso, the text claims from the executive A precise epidemiological inventory And a prevention strategy, which would include support for associations, awareness campaigns or the training of health professionals. If the resolution does not require receiving the approval of elected officials, its examination by parliamentarians remains a means of issuing a legislative opinion on a question.

The humorist affair Pierre Palmadewhich caused a serious road accident After several days of chemsex, notably helped to rob the media spotlight on this practice. According to a 2022 report to the Ministry of Health, it concerned between 100,000 and 200,000 people at least in France. Figures below reality, according to addictology specialists and deputies. If it is difficult to count precisely the number of followers, the confinement linked to the Cavid pandemic in 2020 exploded the practices.

«  »The practice of Chemsex is installed in increasingly young audiences, from all circles and all territories ”, says the Northern MP (EPR) Brigitte Liso. With Releasethe elected macronist regrets a « lack of prevention «  And proposes to open the debate to accumulate knowledge around this subject.

It was a meeting made at the Pride of Lille in 2022 which pushed her to immerse himself in this problem. “I exchanged with a distraught father. His teenage son fell into this practice and his addiction was immediate. It is terrible that a youngster enters his sex life via chemsex, underlines Brigitte Liso. You had to seize the question. I was then interested in the drugs consumed, especially the GHB, which can be handcrafted with a product to clean the rims. The lack of information around these substances contributes to the development of this phenomenon ”.

This former associative activist alerts on an expansion of practice in heterosexuals, who do not benefit of the Associative Prevention and Risk reduction mesh woven by the LGBT +community, and while the State, according to her, « abandonedFor years prevention policies.

Before The dissolution of the National Assemblyan almost identical resolution proposal was to be debated in the hemicycle in mid-June. At the beginning of October, the subject returned between the walls of the Bourbon Palace, during the examination of the finance bill. The Northern MP had then managed to vote in committee an envelope of 300,000 euros dedicated specially to the prevention of Chemsex. A provision ultimately abandoned by the government in the latest version of the adopted text.

Also emphasizing the ease with which it is possible to obtain the substances and the dissemination of these practices via meeting applications, Brigitte Liso calls for alert programs « Disposed on Tiktokon the meeting application Grindron all the others social networkswhere young people are. We must not deprive ourselves of anything to inform them. ”

Because practice is far from harmless. Two fatal overdoses took place in Bordeaux in March 2024during a Chemsex evening. The two men had consumed 3mmcfrom the ketamine and poppers.

What are the substances most often implicated? First, the GHB – For gamma-hydroxybutyric acid. Nicknamed the « rapist drug »it can be used for criminal purposes By causing a state of sedation that can go as far as amnesia. The GHB can also be consumed deliberately using a graduated pipette. Finally, the 3mmc, for 3-methylmethcathinone, is also popular. In recent years, its use has emerged from the limited field of Chemsex to burst into the queer festive environment and techno alternative evenings. These two narcotic products are often used because their effects would increase sexual pleasure, excitement or even increase endurance.

“Talking about drug uses is a taboo. But evoking sexuality and homosexuality also remains something complicated in France, Pointe Brigitte Liso. We see it for example with the difficulty that we have in putting in place the awakening to emotional and sexual life. A prevention campaign is necessary, we owe it to our youth. ” The proposal for resolution voted on Monday is not binding for the State. It remains to be seen how the authorities will decide to seize the subject.