**Chemfun phenomenon (above).
Recently, a gay man was involved in a fatal beating** case, which brought the local drug ** (chemfun) to the surface. It is understood that the relevant atmosphere has been formed in Hong Kong, and some people continue to use dating apps to invite chemfun, and even gay men with 140,000 followers on social platforms have opened paid accounts and distributed a large number of ** drug addiction clips. Some experts estimate that at least 10,000 gay men in Hong Kong have participated in CHEMFUN, some of whom have been marginalized by society because of their desire for excitement and some of them have been marginalized by society because of their sexual orientation, and have long relied on CHEMFUN to relieve the pressure of life. This newspaper will publish two episodes** on the phenomenon, including trends in recent years, the mentality of participants, and related support and education problems, etc., with a view to identifying solutions that can help solve the problem.
A 22-year-old male Mainland man who came to Hong Kong to study for a master's degree lost a friend through the gay dating app "grindr" last month, and was suspected to have been injected ** while attending a party in Fanling Wai. chemfun refers to the use of recreational drugs or substances during or before sexual activity, which is not new in Hong Kong. The Department of Health's (DH) regularly publishes the HIV/AIDS Prevention Programme Index Survey (HARIS) and the HIV/AIDS Risk and Circulation Survey (PRISM), which have data on "men who have sex with men in Hong Kong". Of the 1,574 respondents to the 2020 HARIS survey, 86% had participated in ChemFun in the past six months prior to the survey.
According to statistics**LGBT Capital, there are nearly 420,000 LGBTs (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) in Hong Kong, at least 1680,000 gay men have participated in chemfun.
More "explicit" invitations are issued in **
It is understood that in the past, there would be a fixed chemfun group in the gay circle, or a friend to participate in the party, but under the epidemic, more people's social life has changed from offline to **invitation. Those who are interested in inviting Chemfun will generally use the ice cream and snowman ** symbols on social platforms or dating apps for identification. CT, the head of NJAC Studios, a non-profit organization that promotes multiculturalism, conducted a statistical experiment in November last year to calculate party invitations sent through dating apps within a 1km radius of Yau Tsim Mong District on a random selection of a few free nights, and the result was an average of 60 to 120 invitations per hour.
X" (formerly known as Twitter) is a place for gay men, with 140,000 followers and a gay man with a Hong Kong regional flag pattern indicating that he is "HK Base" (mainly Hong Kong), and posting a large number of paid clips of curling drugs and ** on "X". In addition to descriptions of height, weight and sexual organs, he also threatened to receive a recent photo of the other party's private message with a clear appearance, body and sexual organs. The reporter entered the account keyword on the search engine and found that the gay man was suspected to have opened multiple doppelgangers**, on the paid platform "Just for Fans (JFF)", users can unlock relevant content by paying $15, and the blogger also listed that all posts are original, 19 videos and 20 posts have attracted more than 1,500 followers.
The above series of figures all reflect that there is indeed a gay man chemfun group in Hong Kong, but some sex education experts said frankly that it is not excluded that some people only know that they will use drugs when they meet with netizens, "Do they know that they want chemfun?" Some people are not aware of the "Application Narrative** Research on Gay Men with ChemFun Experience" published by the Hong Kong ** Education Service in recent years after mixing drugs, recording the true feelings of some gay men, some people bluntly said "I can't control it, I don't know if I should refuse", and some gay men pointed out that they knew that Chemfun made him lose his "soul", but he couldn't find a solution," In fact, I know that I can talk to a social worker, and I can not eat (drugs), but you will block and expose yourself I will not find a social worker and a returning house company, it must be a good wok! I won't let my friends know, and my friends must let me quit drugs! ”
Not accepted by society Growing up is labelled
Some counselors said frankly that everyone tries chemfun for different reasons, and it is necessary to start from the growth background of the sexual minority, and the society does not accept the sexual minority, so that they will grow up with a lot of negative labels. He made no secret of the fact that some people get to know the group that embraces them through chemfun, and then bring their confidence back to their daily lives, just like parents think that their children are addicted to playing games, but their children build a circle of friends in the game world, overcome difficulties and challenges with their friends, and then have a feeling of "being needed" and "being taken care of". "For players, online video games are not just games, but part of their social life and social recognition. ”
In Hong Kong, chemsex is described as chemfun, which means to have fun, because "peers" are very important in the local community, and they can confide in each other, as opposed to the purpose of simply satisfying sexual desires. Some gay men said frankly that some sexual minorities will eliminate the two major life issues of marriage and childbirth, and men who have sex with men do not have to worry about getting pregnant after having sex; When you have the ability to take care of Gao Tang and live a worry-free life, you may not be able to answer what is the meaning of your life. It is known that some gay men wanted to ask for help after participating in chemfun, but they were involved in AIDS and had no choice but to retreat.
CT has also been in contact with many cases, he said, "Most people don't realize that they are using drugs and ** to solve the problem of being marginalized in society. He mentioned that in some cases, faced with the sudden death of a loved one, they need to relieve the pain and life pressure through medication for a long time, and gradually develop into relying on drugs to support their emotions. ”
It is hoped that relevant people will dare to "open their voices" for help
Some people pursue the stimulation of drugs because of "playfulness", and some people do not know that poisons will affect their cerebral nervous system, and rely on these substances to anesthetize themselves for a long time, in exchange for inner peace, CT bluntly said, "Maybe chemfun is not only a problem of falling and **, but they have not dealt with psychological needs or trauma for a long time, and they need drugs to support their lives and become the driving force for their survival." ”
CT pointed out that with the current support mechanism, most of the ChemFun addicts who ask for help will be sent to captivity for drug rehabilitation, but they have not sorted out the problems they have been treated coldly. He added that some comrades also know that chemfun is not the best solution, but because of the experience of "successful" stress relief, they will still unconsciously sink again after drug rehabilitation. He hopes that the community will become more accepting of different groups and that relevant people will dare to seek help from support organisations and find real solutions to problems.
Drug substances "collide" and can be fatal
The basic combination of drugs used as chemfun includes methamphetamine, commonly known as "ice", alkyl nitrite "poppers", aphrodisiac "Viagra", and liquid***, but the effects of the above substances are "clashes" and are easily fatal.
Psychiatrist Huang Yingqin analyzed that the above 4 substances will make the user feel high, and then affect the blood vessels and heart, for example** will make the user's heart beat faster, blood pressure is high, and there is a risk of stroke or cardiac arrest if the user overdoses, "Normal heartbeat should be maintained at 60 to 100 beats per minute, when too excited to the heart rate as high as 150 to 200 beats per minute, cardiac output will decrease, or the heart will stop and die." She added that high fever can also lead to dehydration, rhabdomyolysis, electrolyte imbalance and even kidney failure.
Some studies have found that the dopamine increase of eating chocolate is 55%, while the dopamine increase of inhaling ** is 1000%. Some counselors pointed out that dopamine is a hormone that is "consumed" quickly, and there is a "natural reward and punishment mechanism" in the human body, "when you feel happy because of **, you will release the corresponding painful feeling as 'internal balance', so people who participate in chemfun will only become more and more muddy." ”
Evolution of Poison Party "Ice" has become mainstream in recent years
ChemFun may have evolved from the drug party 30 years ago, and the drugs used have changed from "K boy" and "E boy" to the current **.
A Study on the Chemsex Behavior of the Gay Men Community in Hong Kong pointed out that ChemFun can be traced back to the 90s of the last century, when some gay men would participate in large-scale wild dancing parties dominated by heterosexuality, until the emergence of gay parties in the millennium, and in the mid-2000s, under the vigorous crackdown on drugs and drug use establishments, related activities turned "underground", and also derived from holding private chemfun parties at home or hotels.
In fact, the trend of the drug epidemic has evolved markedly over the past 20 years. CT, the head of the non-profit organization "NJAC Studio", pointed out that at first, sexual minorities were exposed to drugs when they participated in all-night rave parties (r**e party), and most of them were mainly abused "k-boy"** and "e-boy"**, and later drugs infiltrated the campus, and some student unions "took money" to smoke "white powder" heroin, and in recent years** has become the mainstream, and it has also become a common substance for gay men to make chemfun.
The above content is owned by Sing Tao News Corporation and may not be quoted without permission.