According to a new study published Tuesday in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, people across all sexual orientations have been mixing up drugs with sex. The investigators have found that many gay, bisexual, and heterosexual individuals admitted to having sex while they are under the influence of drugs, while some used drugs to enhance their sexual performance and experiences.
The researchers, where were primarily from the UK, analyzed the data from the 2013 version of the Global Drug Survey, which is an annual poll of drug habits of people across multiple countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom.
They evaluated the responses of more than 23,000 people who participated in the survey that year. They asked them whether they had taken any type of drug or substance right before sex.
The survey found that for both men and women, the most commonly used drug just before sex was alcohol. Nearly 60 percent of both the genders said they had alcohol before sex in the past.
Another popular choice was cannabis. More than one-third of men and about a quarter of women said they had cannabis before sex.
The third one was a recreational drug MDMA, also called ecstasy or Molly. Approximately 15 percent of both the genders stated that they have taken it before sex.
Other drugs were ketamine, a rarely used recreational drug in the U.S., Viagra (sildenafil), and “poppers” (amyl nitrate or butyl nitrite).
One of the limitations is that the survey might have over-represented people who want to tell researchers they use drugs, while some may use drugs but do not want to admit it.
Lead author Will Lawn, a psychologist at the University College London, told Gizmodo, “Our results are not representative of the general population, so we don’t know the real prevalence of substance-linked sex. However, what it does show is that many drugs we like to use in general, are the same drugs that we use with sex—which makes sense. So perhaps we should focus on those drugs with public health messages, rather than just ‘chemsex’ drugs for gay men.”
More specifically, the survey looked at people who use “club drugs” such as MDMA to enhance their sexual performance and experience, a phenomenon called “chemsex.”
Chemsex has been related to unsafe sexual practices, such as unprotected sex, which can eventually increase the risk of sexually transmitted diseases.
Lawn said, “For many years, the focus has just been on men who have sex with men, but we need to know how different groups behave.”
For instance, gay and bisexual men reported greater use of most drugs just before sex. However, bisexual women, when compared with heterosexual women, also reported greater use of drugs to boost sex. And more than 20 percent of all groups reported using drugs for a better sexual experience, irrespective of gender or sexual orientation. Club drugs, such as MDMA and GHL/GHB, which have intoxicating effects similar to alcohol, have been consistently considered the most positive drugs. MDMA was associated with increasing intimacy, while GHL/GHB with ramping up sexual desires.
