Inside The Meth-Fueled, Week-Long Orgies Plaguing London’s Gay Scene

London’s gay sex party scene is being “ravaged” by the popularity of “slamming parties,” meth-fueled, week-long orgies linked to increased incidents of drug addiction and HIV infection.

Max Daly, co-author of Narcomania: A Journey through Britain’s Drug World, dove into the sordid details for VICE Magazine:

The various slamming get-togethers are pretty fluid affairs, taking place over several days and in several venues, from darkened private homes and West End saunas to dingy apartments and suburban mansions. There are constants, however—the nonstop porn being streamed on massive projector screens, the cascading synth lines of shitty Euro trance, and the glow of guests twiddling with their iPhones as they attempt to get hold of more drugs and bodies to invite along.  […]

And, of course, what makes these slamming parties unique is the slamming itself. Injecting meth (or “Tina,” as it’s commonly referred to in the gay community) provides a far more intense, longer, and therefore cheaper hit than smoking it, ramping up your libido and stripping inhibitions. It’s turned London’s already pretty athletic gay sex-party scene into an extreme sport, with revellers apparently averaging up to five sexual partners a session.

Daly spoke to Tim, a 39-year-old web publisher and former host/guest of the slamming parties who called them “a blizzard of sucking and fucking.”

“People are often awake for days with no food or water, just fizzy drinks and Dunns River Nurishment [a nutritional milk supplement],” Tim said. “But the stupid thing is that no one can ever come, because crystal meth stops you from coming—as does Viagra—so it’s just never-ending sex. It’s painful. Most people end up with no skin on their dicks and some end up in hospital because of panic attacks brought on by too much crystal.”

According to David Stuart, director of Antidote, London’s only LGBT-specific drug and alcohol support service, gay men are partaking in this high-risk behavior because they “feel their sex is ‘diseased’ or sinful—the kind their parents disapprove of.” The problem is only exacerbated by the ease of access to the drugs and the prevalence of hookup apps like Grindr, which he says eradicate “the usual process of developing an intimacy of sorts before having sex.”

Yusef Azad, director of policy at National AIDS Trust, agreed, adding that apps like Grindr “are facilitating networking among gay men for extended sex sessions on drugs.” The Trust sent a letter to all London councils calling for action to address the “recent and rapid rise in the use of crystal meth in the context of high-risk sex.”

The number of crystal meth and mephedrone users injecting in a sexual context quadrupled from 20 percent in 2011 to 80 percent in 2012. Meanwhile, 70 percent of those injecting are reportedly sharing needles. Stuart said around 75 percent of the 800 men being treated by Antidote are HIV positive and 60 percent of them fail to adhere to their HIV treatment when under the influence of drugs.

You can read more about this disturbing trend over on VICE.

Photo: Crystal Meth Addiction