This article proposes and outlines a critical approach to the study of chemsex. The vast majority of chemsex research takes place within the broad field of health, particularly LGBTQ+ health, which ultimately frames such work using a paradigm of risk. This article follows previous research that calls attention to the limitations of this perspective, and suggests the value in formalising more generative, explorative and critical approaches to the phenomenon. Based on this previous scholarship and the contributions to the special issue, we propose that ‘critical chemsex studies’ operates along three axes: one working within public health that attempts to move beyond the risk paradigm; another which attempts to understand its cultural dimensions as it interrogates the discursive, sociopolitical, technological and economic landscapes in which chemsex has materialised, and finally; a third centering pleasure and its organisation of gay identity, intimacy, and sociability. Finally, we look to the future of critical chemsex studies, calling for more diverse works on national and regional differences in chemsex culture, as well as how the framework can be adapted in order to leverage its capacities for the women, trans and non-binary people who are under-represented in the current literature.

本文提出并概述了研究 chemsex 的关键方法。绝大多数 chemsex 研究发生在广泛的健康领域，尤其是 LGBTQ+ 健康领域，最终使用风险范式来构建此类工作。本文遵循了之前的研究，这些研究呼吁人们注意这种观点的局限性，并提出了对这种现象进行更具生成性、探索性和批判性的形式化方法的价值。基于之前的奖学金和对特刊的贡献，我们建议“关键化学性研究”沿着三个轴进行：一个在公共卫生领域工作，试图超越风险范式；另一个试图理解它的文化维度，因为它询问了话语的、社会政治的、chemsex 在其中实现的技术和经济格局，最后；第三个中心快乐及其对同性恋身份、亲密关系和社交能力的组织。最后，我们展望了关键 chemsex 研究的未来，呼吁针对 chemsex 文化的国家和地区差异开展更多样化的工作，以及如何调整该框架以利用其对女性、跨性别和非二元女性的能力在当前文献中代表性不足的人。