It is not a good idea to take drugs before you meet a client. Drugs make your judgment worse. Never accept anything from a customer or anyone else, because you can never know what you are actually being given.
Have you thought about drinking less alcohol, taking less drugs, or stopping completely? Are you using a medicine in a destructive way? Are you worried that a friend is drinking too much? Sometimes it is a good idea to talk to a professional who can give advice and support like RFSL Stockholms counsellor. Contact him at samtalsmottagning@rfslstockholm.se, or instagram.com/chemsexmottagningen.
Amphetamine
Amphetamine is a chemical drug that stimulates the central nervous system. It can be found as pills or as a powder, and it can be swallowed, snorted (inhaled through the nose) or injected. When you take amphetamine, your brain gets an increase in the synaptic activity of dopamine and noradrenaline. This gives you feelings of intensity, heightened energy and self-confidence. Amphetamine also speeds up your heart rate and gives you higher blood pressure. During the high, you often stop thinking about eating and sleeping, and get a higher sex drive and more energy to start with. If you use amphetamine often, the positive feelings will go away, and instead you will feel withdrawal symptoms and extreme tiredness.
It can be very different how much amphetamine there is in the pills or the powder, and this can lead to unwanted overdoses. If you overdose, you risk collapsing or dying because of the effect on your heart and breathing. Amphetamine and alcohol together leads to worse health.
If you share needles and other tools, there is a risk of getting or spreading infections like HIV or hepatitis.
There are also needle exchange programmes in Gothenburg, Malmö and Stockholm. To get info on adresses etc, please use google or send us an e-mail hivinfo@rfslstockholm.se
Amphetamine is an illegal drug.
Side effects of amphetamine can be muscle spasms, chewing movements and dry mouth. After a high, you often experience depressive anxiety, paranoia and mood swings. Some depressive or psychotic side effects can continue for a long time or become permanent. If you use amphetamine often, it can lead to impotence, but also malnutrition and vitamin deficiency, because amphetamine makes you feel less hungry.
Have you thought about drinking less alcohol, taking less drugs, or stopping completely? Are you using a medicine in a destructive way? Are you worried that a friend is drinking too much?
Sometimes it is a good idea to talk to a professional who can give advice and support.
Cannabis
Cannabis is a name for a group of hemp plants that can be used to get hash or marijuana. Hash is often found in cake-like chunks that look like black tar, or in oil concentrates. Marijuana looks like tobacco or dried grass. Cannabis can be smoked, eaten or drunk. The effects of cannabis can be different, and often depend on your mood or surroundings. Usually, you first feel relaxed and slow and talk and giggle a lot. Later, you often get quiet, thoughtful and sleepy. The substance that makes you high is called THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), and it is fat soluble. This means that THC can be stored in the fat tissue in your body, and keep on affecting the body for 3 to 4 weeks. Cannabis is an illegal drug.
Common side effects are anxiety, uneasiness, panic and paranoia. Your short-term memory and your learning ability gets worse. If you use cannabis regularly, the negative effects on your brain can become worse and long-term. Difficulties with logical thinking, harder to reflect about yourself and the world around you. Risk of psychosis. Hormonal changes that can lead to lower sex drive. Greater risk of lung problems when smoking. Using alcohol and cannabis together gives a greater risk for dizziness.
Cannabis is very mentally addictive.
Have you thought about drinking less alcohol, taking less drugs, or stopping completely? Are you using a medicine in a destructive way? Are you worried that a friend is drinking too much?
Sometimes it is a good idea to talk to a professional who can give advice and support.
GHB
GHB (Gamma hydroxybutyrate) is a clear liquid with no smell and a salty taste. It also comes in powder form. In the best case scenario, GHB can give a high that is a lot like the effect of alcohol. You feel more free, your judgment gets shaky, and some people feel a higher sexual drive. It is very difficult to measure a safe dose of GHB, and many people have had unpleasant and dangerous effects. GHB has killed people. The effect you get from the drug depends on things like how much you weigh, your physical health, your mood and the size of the dose. Drinking alcohol can make the effects worse. GHB can be addictive.
GHB is an illegal drug.
Side effects include nausea, vomiting and feeling very tired. There are risks of getting an unpleasant high with psychotic elements. If you take a large dose or combine GHB with alcohol or other drugs, you could have trouble breathing, lose consciousness or even die because of the effects on your heart and breathing.
It is difficult to know the effects of drugs that are illegally produced, because the active substances can vary a lot. Remember that alcohol often heightens the effects of the drug, which can lead to unexpected negative consequences. Never mix alcohol and GHB, and never use the drug when you are alone. Choose a safe environment and have someone there who you trust, so you can get help quickly if something goes wrong.
Have you thought about drinking less alcohol, taking less drugs, or stopping completely? Are you using a medicine in a destructive way? Are you worried that a friend is drinking too much?
Sometimes it is a good idea to talk to a professional who can give advice and support.
Ecstasy
Ecstasy is a name for several chemically produced drugs, that are often in the form of pills or little bits of paper that look like stamps. Ecstasy is also called Adam, E, MDMA, XTC and other names. What is in the drug varies, but it is usually something that stimulates the central nervous system to give a high with boosted energy, lowered inhibitions, euphoria and stronger sense perceptions. Of course, different doses give different effects, and it is difficult to know the strength of the dose.
Ecstasy has come to be associated with partying and dancing. The feeling that you and people around you are good-looking and sexy can get stronger, but erection and orgasm are usually not as good on ecstasy. Ecstasy is more addictive mentally than physically. Ecstasy and alcohol together give greater health risks. The drug can give you a higher body temperature, and it affects the balance of liquid in your body. If you feel extremely hot, cool your body down with a cold shower or bath. Drink some water, but not more than half a liter per hour. If you drink more, you can get water poisoning.
Ecstasy is an illegal drug.
Ecstasy can lead to mental overstimulation, which is often followed by tiredness, difficulty sleeping, depression, anxiety, dry mouth, higher body temperature, sweating and dehydration. It can also lead to psychosis with unpleasant hallucinations. In high doses, ecstasy can give you a quicker heart beat, high blood pressure and lead to death. If you use ecstasy for a long time or regularly, you can get depressions which are very hard to treat.
Have you thought about drinking less alcohol, taking less drugs, or stopping completely? Are you using a medicine in a destructive way? Are you worried that a friend is drinking too much?
Sometimes it is a good idea to talk to a professional who can give advice and support.
Heroin
Heroin is a very addictive opiate that has many similarities to morphine. It is classified as a narcotic, and it is seen as one of the hardest drugs in existence. Heroin can be brown or white in colour, and it can be snorted up the nose, smoked or mixed with water and injected. The effect of heroin depends very much on the mood the user is in, and the situation the drug is taken in. When you first take heroin, you usually feel a very relaxing and pain-reducing warmth, and many people feel like all their troubles have gone away. In the beginning, heroin can work as a temporary escape for people who do not feel well, or whose life is hard and lacks security. This can seem tempting for some people who sell sex, because it can make it easier to have sex with someone you are not sexually attracted to.
There are many negative sides to using heroin. For every time you use it, your body becomes more resistant, and it is easy to get caught in a cycle of taking larger doses to get the same feeling as you got in the beginning. At the same time, your brain is badly damaged by the drug, and your thoughts, feelings and experiences are affected, because the heroin high damages the central nervous system. Heroin affects the body so strongly that users get side effects like heavy diarrhoea, muscle pains, breathing problems, no sex drive, nausea and sleeplessness if they do not get a dose every day. Often, the need for heroin is so strong that people who have used it also get depressed and anxious, and feel irritated with everyone and everything. But even though the feelings are very strong when you have just stopped using heroin, the withdrawal symptoms usually lessen within a week. If they do not, you should see a doctor to get help. There are treatment programs with methadone in Stockholm, Uppsala, Göteborg, Malmö, Helsingborg, Lund and Malmö. There are also needle exchange programmes in Malmö and Stockholm. To get info on adresses etc, please use google or send us an e-mail mottagning@rfslstockholm.se.
Cocaine
Cocaine stimulates the central nervous system and gives effects that are similar to amphetamine, but shorter and more intense. Cocaine is made from the leaves of the coca plant, and it can be snorted (inhaled through the nose), eaten, injected or smoked. When you take cocaine, the dopamine activity in the brain increases. It makes you feel confident and good about yourself, the heart beats faster and the blood vessels expand. Sex drive and sensitivity increase, and orgasms are more intense, but it can be difficult to keep a penis hard. Cocaine and alcohol should not be combined. Cocaine is an illegal drug.
Cocaine is very addictive, and it quickly damages the brain’s own reward system. After a high, depression, anxiety and paranoia are common. Snorting regularly can damage the membranes inside the nose. If you use cocaine, remember to eat and drink and let your body get proper rest.
Have you thought about drinking less alcohol, taking less drugs, or stopping completely? Are you using a medicine in a destructive way? Are you worried that a friend is drinking too much?
Sometimes it is a good idea to talk to a professional who can give advice and support.
LSD
LSD is a chemical, psychedelic drug that affects your sensory perception and twists your sense of reality and your environment. The effects of LSD are different from person to person, and from time to time. It can be exciting, but it can just as well turn confusing or scary. The high can last for hours, that feel as long as days. Sex on LSD can feel surreal, ecstatic or just strange and wooden. LSD is not a good idea in a noisy club environment, because it can strengthen and distort sounds, lights and movements and make them feel unpleasant. LSD comes in pill form or on small pieces of paper. There is a big difference between a strong dose and a weak one. A stronger dose can give you unwanted negative effects. It is difficult to foresee the effects of illegally produced drugs, because the active substances can be very different. Do not use this drug alone. Choose a safe environment and have someone there who you trust, so you can get help quickly if something goes wrong. LSD is an illegal drug.
Common side effects are nausea, a quicker heart beat, high blood pressure, dizziness and shivering. After a high, many people feel depression and anxiety, and sometimes also flashbacks which means getting high again even though you have not taken the drug again. LSD has powerful effects on the psyche, and it can cause a psychosis than can stay with you for a long time.
Have you thought about drinking less alcohol, taking less drugs, or stopping completely? Are you using a medicine in a destructive way? Are you worried that a friend is drinking too much?
Sometimes it is a good idea to talk to a professional who can give advice and support. Click Advice and support in the left column to read more.
Methamphetamine
Methamphetamine (also called crystal, meth, ice and other names) is a chemical drug that stimulates the central nervous system. It is similar to amphetamine, but methamphetamine gives a stronger effect and is more addictive. It can be swallowed, snorted (inhaled through the nose), smoked or injected. This drug is often associated with sex and sex parties, because it can give you a higher sex drive, longer lasting energy and more confidence.
If you use methamphetamine for a long time, the effect lessens, and instead it may lead to impotence, withdrawal symptoms and strong tiredness. Methamphetamine is an illegal drug.
Methamphetamine is very addictive, and it quickly damages the reward systems in your brain, so that the things that usually make you happy and positive will no longer do so. Many people feel depression, anxiety, paranoia and mood swings after a high. See also amphetamine and cocaine.
If you use methamphetamine, remember to eat and drink and let your body get a lot of rest.
