2023-08-01 07:30:00
The 3-MMC is a synthetic drug (or research chemical) belonging to the cathinone family, molecules with stimulating and empathogenic properties. It comes in the form of powder or crystals, and is mainly consumed by snorting or injection.
The consumption of 3-MMC, associated with that of GHB/GBL, is initially pegged mid chemsex, the practice of drug use in a sexual context, which is essentially the act of men who have sex with men (MSM), in contexts of group sex. THE chemsexeurs often attribute to 3-MMC aphrodisiac properties facilitating sexual intercourse (increased desire, ease of having an erection, delay in ejaculation, etc.).
In recent years, a diffusion of the uses of 3-MMC beyond chemsex has been observed by various actors working in the field of harm reduction. This substance is now consumed by men and women who do not always identify as LGBTQI+, and outside of any sexual context.
READ ALSOPierre Palmade’s accident: what is chemsex?This trend is particularly reported in New Aquitaine by users and risk reduction professionals interviewed as part of this survey. This article sheds light, in a sociological way, on the motivations for the consumption of 3-MMC by users who are not chemsexeursthe sales networks of this substance and the reported health consequences.
Motivations linked to the cost and effects of 3-MMC
3-MMC users seem to be most often young people, rather socially integrated and polydrug users, who have experimented with other illicit drugs (cannabis, cocaine, MDMA/ecstasy, etc.) before trying 3-MMC. Some were initiated by friends practicing chemsex or close to this environment, others by heterosexual people far from chemsex. Consumption almost always takes place in a festive context, in techno clubs and raves urban, sometimes at private parties. According to stakeholders in alternative festive spaces in New Aquitaine, the uses of 3-MMC seem to be rarer in free parties in rural areas, the uses being more visible in the city.
Users report appreciating the effects of this product, which lie between those of MDMA/ecstasy (amplification of sensory feelings, entactogenic and empathogenic effects) and cocaine (reduction of the feeling of fatigue, ease of approaching others and swap). They consume mainly in sniff. Arthur is 22 years old, works in the catering sector and consumes various substances, in particular 3-MMC in a festive context (mainly in techno clubs and in afters private). He appreciates the stimulating effects of 3-MMC, which makes him “want to do stuff”: “You take a track and you run a marathon! » Unlike many chemsexeursArthur does not link this product to an aphrodisiac effect, affirming that this consumption does not make him “do not want to fuck”.
Three minutes on: 3-MMC, the new cocaine? (OFDT, 2023).
Another central element reported by consumers, the cost: the price per gram of 3-MMC in New Aquitaine is around 40 euros (with a low price of 30 euros and a high price of 50 euros), against a current of 60 euros per gram for cocaine.
In his sociology dissertation titled New synthetic products: between prohibitive and a priori policies. Study of the particularities of 3-MMC consumer careersproduced at the University of Bordeaux, Melina Lapeyronie-Soula interviewed nine users of 3-MMC, eight of whom do not practice chemsex. Most of the users questioned present the low cost of this product, compared to that of cocaine, as an important motivation for use. According to Mélina Lapeyronie-Soula, the fact that 3-MMC has effects similar to two drugs that are well known and appreciated by users (MDMA/ecstasy and cocaine) and that its price is quite low contributes to its distribution in festive spaces.
Online sale of drugs, delivery and purchase in party spaces
3-MMC has always been ordered via the Internet by chemsexeurswho obtain the substance on the dark Web and on illegal sites on the surface Web. Due to legislative changes around synthetic drugs, in particular concerning sales platforms in the Netherlands, the molecules sold as 3-MMC can regularly turn out to be derivatives (in particular of 3-CMC, with similar properties). For the chemsexeurs who do not wish to buy online, it is possible to provide in real life (IRL) essentially via user-dealer networks themselves chemsexeurs. We have therefore been dealing for several years with very community-based IRL sales networks, quite closed to people who do not practice chemsex.
READ ALSOPalmade case: “chemsex”, a dangerous practiceThis model has evolved, and it is now possible for people far from the world of chemsex to buy 3-MMC IRL. The substance is sold in festive spaces by dealers and user-dealers, in the same way as cocaine or MDMA/ecstasy. It is also possible to have 3-MMC delivered to one’s home by delivery networks operating in the user’s city, the substance not escaping the uberization of the deal underway for several years now. Several users report that the availability of 3-MMC has increased in 2022 and 2023, and that the substance is now quite easy to find. If Arthur considers that 3-MMC remains less available in party spaces than cocaine or ecstasy, he reports that “3” is much easier to buy today: “It’s widespread now, you can easily find . »
The health consequences of 3-MMC consumption
The health consequences have been clearly identified within the public chemsexeur, who can combine drug use disorder and sex addiction, and who is regularly confronted with issues related to consent, risky sexual practices and problems generated by injection. Concerning the consequences specifically linked to 3-MMC, they are similar to those linked to cocaine (cravinginsomnia, loss of appetite, etc.) and MDMA/ecstasy (difficult descents with dark thoughts, regret at having accepted certain sexual practices or at having approached people to whom the user would not have been he had been sober…).
Users of 3-MMC in festive spaces escape the problems associated with chemsex, but not the direct consequences of the use of this substance which, when sniffed, seems particularly harmful for the nasal septums. Users complain of intense pain when tracking: Antoine, a 25-year-old polydrug user, tested 3-MMC and did not like it, “because it tears your nose out”.
Harm reduction professionals are beginning to see 3-MMC users arriving in their structures who are not chemsexeurs, and who complain of a loss of control of use and the reported health consequences. A risk reduction association intervening in free et rave parties thus explains that users of 3-MMC complain, for example, of insomnia, nausea, bad trip and of craving. Since these users are often polydrug users, the reason for initial treatment in addictology is not always 3-MMC; According to the professionals met, most users seem to consult for cocaine or alcohol consumption problems.
An educator specializing in CSAPA in Bordeaux met a user consuming “3-MMC outside of any sexual context, to experiment, to party”, who came to ask for help for his “use of cocaine”. Note however that, as with other drugs, most uses of 3-MMC are recreational and do not have major health consequences.
If 3-MMC is, for the moment, less visible in festive spaces than other psychostimulants, it is a safe bet that its distribution has only just begun, and that experiments will multiply in the years to come.
Sarah PerrinDoctor of Sociology, University of Bordeaux
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