Former San Francis meth lord speaks out about dg addictn the gay muny

Contents:

• METH HAS VASTATED THE GAY MUNY FOR S. A NEW TREATMENT OFFERS HOPE.
• FORMER SAN FRANCIS METH LORD SPEAKS OUT ABOUT DG ADDICTN THE GAY MUNY
• THE DIRTY LTLE SECRET OF GAY MEN AND METH
• THE BEAST THE BATHHOE; CRYSTAL METH USE BY GAY MEN THREATENS TO REIGNE AN EPIMIC
• LEGAL DG CONSUMPTN S MAY HELP EASE THE GAY METH EPIMIC
• A DOUBLE EPIMIC: CRYSTAL METHAMPHETAME DG E RELATN TO HIV TRANSMISSN AMONG GAY MEN

METH HAS VASTATED THE GAY MUNY FOR S. A NEW TREATMENT OFFERS HOPE.

Rearch published JAMA September documented a spike after the first wave of ernment shutdowns the e of meth, e, fentanyl and hero among those diagnosed wh or at risk of substance e and the gay munyMeth has st a heavy cloud over the gay muny particular for s.

The Natnal Survey on Dg Use and Health timated that 2015, past-year meth e prevalence was more than four tim higher among gay men pared to straight men — at 4. Rearch also suggts that for people who are livg wh HIV, like Roger, meth exacerbat the vis's harm to the, who said he first started takg meth at gay "circu" parti, said his e of the dg led him to stop gog to the doctor and qu takg his HIV treatment a ago. Wh a year, he had spiraled to meth and 'G' addictn, sabotagg his artistic reer and beg one of the top suppliers of illic dgs to San Francis’s largely gay “party and play” subculture.

FORMER SAN FRANCIS METH LORD SPEAKS OUT ABOUT DG ADDICTN THE GAY MUNY

'G' is short for GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyrate) or GBL (gamma butyrolactone), which are monly known as 'date rape dgs' but are ed recreatnally parts of the gay muny. Acrdg to data llected by the Natnal Survey on Dg Use and Health, om 2015 to 2017, the percentage of gay men surveyed who reported g meth the prev year was twice as high as straight his memoir, “Tweakerworld, ” which is beg released Tuday, Yamas scrib the experience of livg the dg-fueled “party and play” subculture unflchg, gory tail om the unique perspective of both a one-time addict and dg aler.

For many gay men, though, meth is first posed to them as a form of sexual enhancement or a way to extend the party, wh some men reportg that they first tried meth whout even knowg what was. ”Sharg his own realy wh gay “party and play” culture, he said, feels like a rponsibily.

THE DIRTY LTLE SECRET OF GAY MEN AND METH

How addictn to crystal methamphetame is threateng the gay muny’s long stggle to turn a rner on the AIDS epimic.

As a gay man I worked tirelsly through the 1980’s directg AIDS agenci and advotg HIV tn. But somethg about s peculiar grip on gay men feels all too faiar, like a dreadful echo of what we suffered a generatn ago.

THE BEAST THE BATHHOE; CRYSTAL METH USE BY GAY MEN THREATENS TO REIGNE AN EPIMIC

Durg those years of “gay ncer, ” we were too petrified to acknowledge the g those omo signs have returned, along wh the helpls wish that thgs will improve if only we don’t speak too loudly about . Revery centers are teemg wh gay men battlg meth addictn, and the dg has a very tight, culturally specific hold on them.

It has surpassed other illegal substanc as the dg of choice among gay ers. Gay men know we had pellg preventn mpaigns for HIV the early days. But changg an addict’s behavr is a much more amb challenge than changg basic sexual was my goal to brg attentn to this crisis when I agreed to appear a recent documentary about gay men and methamphetame (Todd Ahlberg’s startlg “Meth”).

I want to sound the alarm, anize a rponse, and jo the growg chos of gay men sheddg light on our shameful secret. Like many of the men cisg the two-level club led wh closet-size cubicl, Bob, a 37-year-old advertisg pywrer, was ''tweakg, '' high on a wildly addictive stimulant that has been sweepg through Manhattan's gay ghettos. Now, rearchers say, crystal meth e the cy is largely nfed to gay whe men Manhattan, although they fear s eventual spread to the wir gay populatn and are no numbers, however, to show what health re workers say is the growg role that crystal meth is playg transmtg H.

LEGAL DG CONSUMPTN S MAY HELP EASE THE GAY METH EPIMIC

Acrdg to the cy's largt private clic for lbians and gay men, Callen-Lor Communy Health Center, two-thirds of those ttg posive for H.

For years, has been cuttg a stctive path through workg-class muni the Midwt and among gay men San Francis and Los Angel. The dg found a toehold New York dance clubs the late 1990's and quickly spread among gay men who troll the Web for sex. ''He and others say that if past dg trends are any ditn, crystal will migrate beyond the provce of gay men, jt as has the heartland, where the dg has bee symptomatic of ral cle.

Dpe what experts scribe as an emergg crisis, neher public health officials nor private gay anizatns New York have done much to quell crystal meth's spread.

A DOUBLE EPIMIC: CRYSTAL METHAMPHETAME DG E RELATN TO HIV TRANSMISSN AMONG GAY MEN

''My fear is that young gay men thk 's the latt party dg.