Meth has vastated the gay muny for s. A new treatment offers hope.

Contents:

• GAY MEN ARE DYG FROM A CRISIS WE’RE NOT TALKG ABOUT
• GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN'S HEALTH ISSU
• THE CRISIS OF METH ADDICTN AMONG GAY MEN
• GAY LIFTYLE IS FUELLED BY DGS, REARCH REVEALS
• METH HAS VASTATED THE GAY MUNY FOR S. A NEW TREATMENT OFFERS HOPE.
• GHB E AMONG GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
• DG USE AMONG GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN AT WEEKEND DANCE PARTI:THE ROLE OF INTENTNS AND PERCEPTNS OF PEERS’ BEHAVRS
• THE HEALTH CHALLENG OF EMERGG ADULT GAY MEN EFFECTG CHANGE HEALTH CARE

GAY MEN ARE DYG FROM A CRISIS WE’RE NOT TALKG ABOUT

Alhol and dg e among some gay and bisexual men n be a reactn to homophobia, discrimatn, or vlence they experienced due to their sexual orientatn and n ntribute to other mental health and physil problems.

For some gay and bisexual men, alhol and illegal dg e, pecially methamphetam (meth), amyl nrat (poppers), and dgs ed to treat erectile dysfunctn (when a man has a hard time keepg an erectn durg sex), also ntribute to a higher chance of gettg HIV and other STDs. Growg up gay and beg forced to keep that a secret for fear of fay rejectn or neighborhood bullyg n create huge securi and issu wh bt iend was rejected by his fay for beg gay and was beaten the streets of his hometown Mexi. In realy, ’s g untls are many unrlyg reasons gay men start g meth — and those reasons mt be ’s an unfortunate realy that certa sid practic and beliefs are upheld wh gay male culture that put all of danger of adoptg risky behavrs.

If we want to ntue growg as a muny, we mt immediately provi fundg and support for gay men who are the work of muny health centers I lead South Los Angel, an overwhelmg majory of patients we treat our substance abe programs are addicted to crystal meth. ""They e the high for the stimulant and then they e a prsant to even them out after a few days, so they uld be able to eat and get sleep, " he his film, he wanted to highlight how the issue is particularly pronounced for young Black, gay men. There are a few optns for gay men and bisexual men same-sex relatnships who aspire to have children, cludg surrogacy, where sperm is ed to fertilize a donated egg, which is then rried to term by a surrogate mother.

GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN'S HEALTH ISSU

Young gay men are much more likely than straight men to take dgs, cludg ecstasy, e and marijuana, acrdg to two studi Bra and one-third of men surveyed the Uned Stat who had sex wh other men said they ed dgs at least once a week, and lifetime e of e was nearly twice as high as that of the general age-group. 'The study by Md shows that gay, lbian and bisexual people are more likely to suffer psychologil strs than straight people, wh gay men 13 per cent more likely to harm themselv and lbians 6 per cent more likely. 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.

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. Published fal eded form as:PMCID: PMC3625484NIHMSID: NIHMS431715AbstractSubstance e is high among gay and bisexual men attendg weekend dance events, yet ltle rearch has vtigated motivatns for dg e and ntextual factors fluencg e the settgs.

THE CRISIS OF METH ADDICTN AMONG GAY MEN

Keywords: Gay, Bisexual, Peer, Dg Use, EcstasyIntroductnUse of illegal dgs is one of the primary risk factors for HIV fectn among men who have sex wh men (MSM) [1–3], and is also associated wh other risk factors associated wh HIV fectn cludg unprotected anal terurse (UAI) and havg multiple sex partners [4–8]. Th, unrstandg ntexts which gay and bisexual men e dgs and their motivatns for g is necsary to rm public health mpaigns geared toward this populatn that tends to have higher rat of dg e than their heterosexual peers [9–11].

GAY LIFTYLE IS FUELLED BY DGS, REARCH REVEALS

Also, rearch on adult populatns is limed; studi to date suggt a strong relatnship between dividuals’ perceptns of their peers’ substance e among adults neighborhoods [27] and at works [28] fluence of peer norms on dg e has rarely been studied among gay and bisexual men, though peer works may be particularly salient shapg substance e behavrs this populatn. Another study found not only that there are a number of distct, regnizable crowds gay muni but that men who affiliated wh certa crowds were at higher risk for adverse health behavrs, cludg bge drkg and dg e [30].

Portal survey methodology [33] was ed to rec gay and bisexual men as they arrived at one of two weekend parti terg to them (one held the Southeast Uned Stat; one held the Northeast Uned Stat) and characterized by multiple dance events. While many factors may acunt for dg e at the events – for example, the events themselv attract dg-ers, dgs may be more available, or the event may provi more opportuni to e them – we specifilly examed the role of tentns and of social rults om the current study nfirm what past studi g nvenience sampl have scribed: that at weekend dance events vatn statns held for gay and bisexual men, dg e is notably high.

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

It uld be that after afford the opportuny to e themselv the men thought that many more men ed the dgs, or that seeg many more men g than they ially thought fluenced them to e the dg weekend dance events studied the current vtigatn are important venu for preventg dg e and associated harmful nsequenc among gay and bisexual men. However, while social norm mpaigns found effective among llege stunts may be a eful startg pot for velopg such terventns, will be important to adapt them to be sensive to the gay and bisexual men attendg the events.

Not only mt the mpaigns be geared toward gay and bisexual men, but the average age of participants the current study is much olr and they tend to be more highly ted than llege stunts, and th will likely require different munitn should also be noted that the PartyIntents study do not enable to differentiate whether the tentns, behavrs, and normative beliefs at the weekend dance event differ om those held by the same men their regular, day-to-day liv. An tegrated approach may th tra peer opn lears to liver msag at such events that not only enurage safe and healthy behavrs, but that also rrect misperceptns about dg e among other party-goers [43, 44] current study fdgs th rm future studi that aim to explore and rrelat of dg e among gay and bisexual men by strsg the potential importance of event-specific ntexts which dg e occurs and perceptns of peers’ behavrs at the events.

However, also foc the need for future studi to expand upon the rults by vtigatg more closely the peers wh whom gay and bisexual men affiliate and how the affiliatns fluence dividuals’ perceptns of other gay and bisexual men’s foc of the current study on tentns and normative beliefs on dg e do not disunt what may seem like alternative theori of dg e and sexual risk-takg at the typ of events. ”10 Exampl of sexual inty clu gay, lbian, heterosexual, bisexual, pansexual (ie, a person’s attractn toward people regardls of their sex or genr inty), and asexual (ie, a lack of sexual attractn to others). 1–2), “homosexualy as practiced by the Athenians was not about an inty, muny, or movement; rather, was part of a larger syndrome which clud men’s ways of relatg to boys, wiv, urtans, prostut, and other sexual partners, and, a larger sense, to both the people of Athens and to the other cy-stat.

GHB E AMONG GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

14-16 Inherently, beg gay is different om beg bisexual or pansexual, although the sexual behavr may be the same, the feelgs and salience n be que addn, the umbrella term LGBTQ is limed nsiratns of health and health re for this populatn recently timated to nstute approximately 4.

For example, would be aquate and false to state that HIV is a health dispary that disproportnately affects the LGBTQ populatn; rather, is a health dispary the Uned Stat that overwhelmgly burns gay and bisexual men and transgenr women, 19 who are part, but not the totaly, of the LGBTQ is wh this ia md that the thors further ntextualize the ias prented the pag to follow.

In particular, the thors nsir the health challeng faced by gay men who are emergg adults, regnizg that is durg this perd that a vast majory of gay men emerge to their sexual inti, 13, 20 and that this velopmental perd is often ght wh risk behavrs21 that might impact the health profile of the men the immediate and set the foundatn for health issu across the life urse. 22ADOLESCENCE AND EMERGING ADULTHOOD IN GAY MENThe psychologist Jefey Art (2000) nceptualized the velopmental state of emergg adulthood to differentiate the perd between adolcence and adulthood, which, Wtern dtrialized natns, enpass approximately ag 18 to 25.

DG USE AMONG GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN AT WEEKEND DANCE PARTI:THE ROLE OF INTENTNS AND PERCEPTNS OF PEERS’ BEHAVRS

More recently, the perd has been expand to age 29 so as to pture mographic and tnal shifts and also due to the fancial reali of Millennials, cludg Millennial gay men, brought about by the enomic crash of 2008 to 2009. 28For gay men, the perd of emergg adulthood is a highly vulnerable perd which the nfluence of sexual risk takg, dg e, mental health burn, rceratn, and other risk ndns, 29-31 precipated by experienc of homophobia and discrimatn32, 33 om society at large, as well as racism and hegemonic notns of masculy wh the gay populatn, 13 promise health and well-beg that may last throughout adulthood.

38 Although the provisn of re for emergg adult gay men has improved relative to past generatns of gay men, who were pathologized due to their sexual inty beg tegorized as a mental illns, visible to health re provirs bee of fear of discrimatn, or neglected bee they were afflicted wh AIDS, the ndns are still far om ial. 39HEALTH CHALLENGES FACED BY YOUNG AND EMERGING ADULT GAY MENThe emergence of the AIDS epimic the later twentieth century engenred an unprecented public health foc on the health and health re needs of gay men. 40 Acrdgly, a wave of bmedil and social science emerged that clearly monstrated the extent to which gay men, cludg emergg adult gay men, are disproportnally affected by a host of health-related challeng relative to their heterosexual peers.

37, 41Health dispari among young and emergg adult gay men are well-documented37, 41; however, the mechanisms and pathways (eg, blogil, psychologil, and/or soclogic mediators) lkg sexual orientatn to differential health out rema poorly unrstood. That is, addn to general life strsors, emergg adult gay men experience qualatively unique social strsors bee of their sexualy, which accumulate to negatively impact the health profile of this populatn. For stance, relative to young heterosexual men, young gay or sexual mory men are signifintly more likely to experience childhood victimizatn (eg, parental psychologil and physil abe), 45, 46 school-based/peer victimizatn, 47 low levels of parental support, 48 and forced homelsns bee of their sexualy.

THE HEALTH CHALLENG OF EMERGG ADULT GAY MEN EFFECTG CHANGE HEALTH CARE

49 As such, the health challeng and equali addrsed this article are not ally related to homosexualy or gayns, but, stead, are the reflectn of nox social ndns (eg, social margalizatn, excln, and stctural stigmatizatn) that work ncert to rro the health profile of young and emergg adult gay men. For stance, a systematic review of mental health disorrs and sexual orientatn, Kg and lleagu68 documented that, across studi, gay men evinced greater risk for lifetime prevalence of suici attempts, lifetime prevalence of prsn, and lifetime prevalence of anxiety relative to heterosexuals.

Although many emergg adult gay men may stggle wh adverse mental health out and rced psychologil well-beg, is cril to note that certa subpopulatns (ie, those who are multiply disadvantaged bee of tersectg margalized inti) may be more at risk than others.

70-72 As such, emergg adult gay men om lower SES backgrounds may evince signifintly fewer social and psychologil rourc wh which to manage general and mory strsors, thereby amplifyg the risk of adverse mental health out. Holistilly, the data highlight the gree to which young and emergg adult gay men are sceptible to adverse mental health out; however, clicians mt realize that the sceptibily is not uniform across subpopulatns of gay men.