The Chemsex Scene in Bucharest, Romania — Andrei Dobre

Andrei Dobre has more than 10 years of experience in the non-government sector and is currently working on his PhD in Sociology. He works as a Monitoring and Evaluation Officer for the Romanian Angel Appeal Foundation, which was originally founded by Linda McCartney, Yoko Ono, Barbara Bach, and Olivia Harrison. Andrei discusses how there's been a chemsex explosion in Romania in just a short amount of time (two years) and he has already lost friends to it.

TAKEAWAYS:

[2:55] How did Andrei first get into this work?

[6:25] What is the current situation in Bucharest, Romania when it comes to chemsex?

[7:25] Andrei has personally lost two friends due to chemsex.

[8:55] A lot has changed within two years and the chemsex scene has become much more lively.

[10:45] The professionals in the region don't really know how to help or counsel for this and the LGBTQ community is experiencing a lot of stigma.

[12:05] Where does the meth come from in Romania?

[13:40] Andrei shares a stat about new HIV cases. This is the first time gay men have appeared second on the list for new HIV cases in Romania. Traditionally, it's been through heterosexual sex and injected drug users.

[15:25] What is gay life like over in Romania?

[19:10] Change is slow, but it is happening in Romania!

[19:55] How are hookup apps affecting the chemsex scene?

[21:10] What kind of programs or help can the LGBTQ community seek during this emerging epidemic?

[25:30] Andrei sent out a call to various countries to see who would be interested in partnering up with him to improve the situation in Romania. 15 countries answered that call.

RESOURCES:

Romanian Angel Appeal Foundation

QUOTES:

• "Romania is more like a transit country and not a producer and all the drug substances are in transit on their way to the west."
• "Things are changing in society. Since 2004, only 1,000-2,000 participants have attended the pride parade. Last year, 15,000 attended."
• "At this moment, we have no professionals and no services developed in Bucharest for this specific target group."
• "Neighboring countries, Eastern Europe like Bulgaria, Serbia, Albania, Croatia, Ukraine, told me that they have no services, it is happening, they have a problem, but don't know what to do."