The 2nd phase of the “Learn Addiction” project enters a test period before being opened to addiction professionals
Chemsex is most common among men who have sex with men, however it is now becoming more common among people having heterosexual sex and people identifying as LGBI+
The second phase of the “Learn Addiction” project is now being tested. Learn Addiction is an initiative of UNAD ( Spanish Network of Addiction Organisations) in collaboration with: UTRIP -Institute for Research and Development- (Slovenia), DIANOVA (Portugal), SANANIM (Czech Republic), and DAH, the German AIDS Service Organisation. The project is co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union. The platform is available in seven languages (English, Spanish, Slovenian, Romanian, Portuguese, Czech and French) at http://www.learnaddiction.eu/.
Read press release for details
Following a European survey carried out by the project partners among 727 addiction professionals from 24 European countries, it became clear that the learning topic of most interest was “chemsex”.
What is chemsex?
Also known as “Party and Play” or “Wired Play”, chemsex is the practice of using drugs to facilitate or enhance sexual relations. Sociologically, chemsex refers to a subculture of recreational substance users who engage, while under the influence of drugs, in high-risk sexual activities (unprotected sex, multiple partners) that can last for days.
The drug most commonly used by chemsex enthusiasts is methamphetamine – or crystal meth – but other substances can also be used, such as cocaine, MDMA, GHB or alkyl nitrites (poppers). It should be noted that while chemsex often involves men having sex with men, it can also occur between people identifying as heterosexuals or LGBTI+. Today, chemsex is considered a public health priority.
Development of the e-learning module
the delegates from the six partner organisations established the guidelines for the development of this new e-learning module on chemsex. Once the first development of the e-learning module is completed, the project partners will test it with addiction professionals across the EU in order to assess how effective it is in delivering the learning objectives. Based on the results from the testing, the project partners will implement the necessary improvements before the final publication of the new e-learning module on chemsex, in December 2023, in seven languages under a Creative Commons license. Thus allowing anyone to freely use it, modify it and build upon it.
