Attempts to criminalise chemsex users are making the queer scene less safe than ever
GAY TIMES finds that up to 1000 people have died of possible chemsex-related harms in the past decade, so why are police attending callouts instead of ambulances?
WORDS BY SOPHIE WILKINSON HEADER DESIGN BY JACK ROWE “Somebody overdoses, so they call for an ambulance, but the police turn up first,” Patriic Gayle says from across the table at the London HQ of the Gay Men’s Health Collective (GMHC), where he is Project Lead.
We’re right next to stacks of condoms, lube, gloves, salt tablets and needles, neatly contained in cardboard packs. These boxes also come stuffed with educational pamphlets about everything from safe fisting to “your rights on arrest”.
Gayle explains: “I’ve lost count of the number of times that gay men say, ‘Well, we know we should call for an ambulance. We don’t want anybody else to die.
