rrnrrninews
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r ay Dagenhart became infected with HIV
while addicted to meth. His addiction
also led him td “losing just about every
job that 1 had during my addiction, being
' gay-bashed, having a gun pulled on me,
declaring bankruptcy and finally becoming
homeless—all because of my crystal meth
addiction.’’
National Coalition for LGBT Health
His was the most riveting presentation heard
by Bob Roehr
at a session on crystal methamphetamine
March 14 during the spring meeting of the
National Coalition for LGBT Health in Wash
ington, D.C.
without fear of getting caught, because who
Dagenhart and a group of other recovering
from the [Drug Enforcement Administration] or
addicts formed the Philadelphia Crystal Meth
police are going to come into the bathhouse—
Task Force (www.meth2death.org). “We are
walk around in a towel with the fear of playing
tired of pushing this under the mg and not dis grab ass—and crack down on the drug problem
cussing it, so we are going to talk about it in very
within our community?”
bold ways, to change the conversation,” he said.
The goal of the task force—based on a model
T he S cope
developed in New York City—is to change
Some 15 percent of gay men had used meth
community values so that using crystal and hav
during their most recent sexual encounter, third
ing unprotected sex or being up all night danc only to alcohol and marijuana, according to a
ing is seen as inappropriate behavior. “We are
2004 survey in San Francisco. Gordon
saying, ‘Do you realize how addictive this is?’ ”
Mansergh, a researcher with the Centers for Dis
Dagenhart said.
ease Control and Prevention, summarized some
He recently went to a bathhouse in Philadel of the key findings at two-day CDC meeting on
phia. When he disclosed his HIV status to men
gay men and crystal meth use in mid-January.
there, the first five turned and walked away.
Meth users in San Francisco were “1.7 times
“The only person who was willing to have sex
more likely to test positive for gonorrhea, nearly
with me was the crystal meth addict,” Dagen
two times more likely to have chlamydia and
hart said.
nearly five times more likely to have syphilis.”
“This is no mystery. The dmg dealers in our
Tn New York City, HIV-positive men were near
community are setting up shop in bathhouses.
ly three times more likely to report meth use
They check into a room, they bring their supply,
during their most recent anal sex encounter.
and they can feed their sexual addiction, which
“One of the recommendations coming out of
stems from their crystal meth addiction.
the conference in January is that we don’t focus
“They can sell large quantities of the dmg exclusively on meth, that we focus on all suh-
G rappling with
C rystal M eth
J
addresses addiction
Recovering addict Jay Dagenhart formed the
Philadelphia Crystal Meth Task Force to
combat meth use in the queer community.
stance abuse, because of the issue of somebody
moving to another substance,” Mansergh said.
That report will be released shortly.
“I think the risks around alcohol abuse are
better known. I wonder how many young gay
men may get in over their heads before they
realize what their risks are with meth,” said
David Haltiwanger of the Chase-Brexton Clin
ic in Baltimore. “Part of what we need to do is
rebrand crystal meth so that it is not considered
not just another inntxzent party drug, but a
much more dangerous drug. There are casual
drug users who would never touch heroin; it has
a brand that they are not going to go near."
Part of the solution is to “move crystal across
that line so that people don’t think of it as some
thing that you can casually pick up and put
down.”
“How come, when you interview straight
men, they don’t put enhancing sex as one of the
top reasons for using meth?” asked Barbara War
ren of the New York City LGBT Center. “1
think that has got less to do with whether or not
they use it for sex and a heck of a lot more with
the cultural and political context that gay men
live in vs. straight men. 1 think that the reason
that this behavior is still such a challenge to gay
and bisexual men is linked to the absolute hos
tility and demonization of gay sexuality in our
society. Using a drug like this and engaging in
these kinds of behaviors is a way to kind of for
get that."
Treatment specialist Phil McCabe noted
that many people continue to use meth as a self-
medication for depression and that one of the
physical symptoms of stopping meth use is long
term depression as the body recovers. He does
not believe the community is prepared to deal
with that. While the focus today is on preven
tion, “we have to balance that with treatment”
to help people stop using meth. JM
A transcript and Web cast of the 75'minute session
are available from the KAISER F amily F( CJNI iation at
wuw.kaisernetwork .org/health_cast.
Bon R oehr is a free'lance reporter based in
Washington, D.C.
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