Slamming: injecting drugs during sex, dangers and harm reduction

What is slamming?

Sexosafe defines slamming (“slam” in French) as chemsex where drugs are injected rather than smoked, swallowed or snorted. The drugs most often slammed are cathinones (3-MMC, 4-MEC…) and methamphetamine. Injecting gives an immediate, very intense effect, which explains both the appeal and the danger.

Why is it the riskiest practice?

• Dependence: Drogues Info Service stresses that injecting cathinones greatly increases the risk of dependence; close-together reinjections follow one after another.
• Overdose: the effect hits all at once, the dose is hard to control; cathinones carry an overdose risk with every use.
• Veins and skin: cathinones are very corrosive to veins; abscesses, damaged veins, infections (Drogues Info Service).
• Viruses: sharing syringes, but also cotton, spoons, water or tourniquets, transmits hepatitis C and HIV (Sexosafe).
• Mental health: comedowns, depression, paranoia, isolation.

Reducing the risks if you slam

Messages from Sexosafe, AIDES and Drogues Info Service:

1. Sterile, personal equipment for every injection: syringe, needle, spoon (cooker), filter, sterile water, alcohol swab. Free kits from harm-reduction services (CAARUD), AIDES, and injecting kits in pharmacies in France.
2. Never share, even with regular partners, even “just the spoon”.
3. Wash your hands, disinfect the skin, rotate injection sites, avoid the neck and groin.
4. Dose carefully, space out doses, don’t use alone.
5. Dispose of used equipment in a sharps bin.
6. PrEP, HIV and hepatitis C testing every 3 months; hepatitis C is curable (hepatitis C).
7. Watch out: redness, heat, swelling or fever at the injection site = see a doctor.

If you live with HIV, beware of the cathinones + protease inhibitors interaction (dangerous combinations).

Emergencies

Chest pain, seizures, confusion, loss of consciousness: call 112 (15 in France). Recovery position if the person is unconscious and breathing.

Getting help

Slamming isn’t a dead end. In France, AIDES (WhatsApp +33 7 62 93 22 29), Le 190 in Paris, addiction centres and Drogues Info Service (0 800 23 13 13) offer support whether you want to cut down, use more safely or stop (chemsex help).