When Drug Use and Sex Are Combined With Party and Play

The Risks of Drug-Fueled Sex Marathons

Gay bar and dance club in Boston, MA
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When people use the term "party and play" (or PnP for short), "party" usually means taking drugs with other people, or maybe just one other person, and "play" means sex. Party and play is most commonly used in the gay community as an expression for two or more gay men getting together to use recreational drugs to enhance sex. The drug typically referred to is crystal meth, although the term party and play can actually mean recreational use of any type of drug during sex between people of any sexual orientation, when the drug is used to enhance the sexual experience in some way.

Party and play may involve group sex, but it can also be used to refer to one-on-one sexual encounters involving drugs.

Why Do Some Gay Men Party and Play?

There has been a lot of speculation, anecdotal evidence and research looking at the phenomenon of party-and-play activities on the gay scene. In these reports, emphasis is placed on the acceptability of anonymous sex, free from the constraints of conventional relationships, among gay men.

One of the main reasons suggested is that young gay men are often unable to meet potential partners in mainstream settings, so they tend to use gay bars, clubs, gay dating sites and chat rooms to meet sexual partners. Drug use has often been quite prevalent in these settings, and so drugs and casual sex often g, o hand-in-hand.

Some of the other reasons given for why gay men party and play is to make gay sex easier from a physical point of view (for example, to enable a greater level of relaxation, which is helpful during anal sex), and to increase sexual arousal and stamina — the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra is often used for this purpose. It has also been documented that drugs can increase the courage required for barebacking.

Using drugs to enable uncomfortable sex and to cope with underlying feelings of shame and depression have long been associated with sex work — exchanging sex for money, drugs, or other things - for men and women. Commercial sex workers and gay men looking for party-and-play sex partners are at increased risk of HIV infection. The increase in HIV rates among gay men since the meth epidemic of the past decade has been well documented.

However, prevention strategies have targeted gay men more extensively than sex workers, who tend to be stigmatized by society, despite the fact that many sex workers are victims of sexual abuse. To them, sex work is a means of survival rather than a positive choice.

Is PnP a Rite of Passage Into the Gay Community?

While some gay men assert that party-and-play involvement is a kind of initiation into the gay scene, in fact, many gay men choose not to use drugs -- or to have anonymous or unprotected sex. Anal sex is also an activity that is by no means universal among gay men, whether facilitated by drug use or not.

It is unfortunate that some vulnerable young men, uncertain of their sense of belonging in the gay community, buy into these myths and take drugs in order to perform and feel part of the gay scene. It also feeds a false negative stereotype of gay men as superficial, irresponsible and uninterested in committed relationships.

If you are pressured by anyone to engage in drug-fueled sex, particularly group sex, you might consider that, rather than being typical of gay men, this may be an issue for that particular individual and might represent other problems, such as sex addiction. You certainly shouldn't do anything involving sex or drugs to try and gain acceptance by another individual or group, as the risks are too high. Always practice safe sex by using a condom when you have sex.

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