A recent study commissioned by the Georgia Department of Human Resources indicates that crystal methamphetamine is perceived as the most problematic drug for gay and bisexual men in Atlanta, as researchers across the country continue to worry about increasing use of crystal meth and its possible impact on the HIV/AIDS rate among gay men.
Some 74 percent of respondents in the DHR survey — which included interviews with 2,046 local gay and bisexual men in social venues such as bars, Gay Pride and internet chat rooms — said they believed crystal meth use was on the rise in gay Atlanta.
Some 58 percent said the drug is either somewhat or very acceptable among gay peer groups. Nearly all respondents — 95 percent — said they believed crystal meth was causing an increase in HIV infections among the city’s gay and bisexual men.
More than 34 percent of those who were surveyed ranked crystal meth as the most serious drug problem facing gay men in Atlanta, compared to 19 percent who said alcohol was the most troublesome substance.
On average, the men who completed a face-to-face interview reported that about 70 percent of their friends had used crystal meth at least once; that figure climbs to more than 90 percent for those who completed the DHR survey online.
“Due to the supply of crystal methamphetamine in our city, and given the size of the gay male population, the risk for increased rates of use is probable,” said Brian Dew, an assistant professor in the Department of Counseling & Psychological Services at Georgia State University, who conducted the study for DHR.
The study was conducted throughout 2006 and the full results have yet to be released.
Dew estimates that between 10-20 percent of gay men in Atlanta have tried meth at least once, but notes that his study couldn’t nail down an exact figure because instead of asking individuals about their own
drug use, the survey gauged their perception of others’ drug use.
“We wanted to go in bars and social clubs to have people fill out the questionnaires, and in order for us to get into those locations, we were prohibited from asking about individual drugs use,” said Dew, who is gay and co-founded the Atlanta Meth Task Force.
But measuring people’s perception of the meth problem does little to shed light on the actual scope of the epidemic, said Ryan King, a policy analyst for The Sentencing Project, a non-profit organization that lobbies for reform of the nation’s prison sentencing policies. With a seemingly endless stream of media stories hyping the ravages of crystal meth, even people who have never come in contact with crystal meth could consider it an out-of-control epidemic, King said.
“There’s no question the coverage of crystal meth has shaped public opinion,” said King, author of a recent Sentencing Project study entitled “The Next Big Thing? Methamphetamine in the United States.”
“I think there’s no question people’s perceptions are going to be affected by the media message,” King said.
National estimates of crystal meth use among gay and bisexual men range between 11-28 percent, a rate reportedly more than 10 times higher the general population, according to a recent report published by the Gay & Lesbian Medical Association. The report included findings from several GLMA focus groups and a review of crystal meth research, and suggests that various cultural factors may make gay men may be more susceptible to meth and other drugs.
“Our experts felt that methamphetamine is attractive to many gay men because it makes them feel better in the context of a hostile society,” GLMA Executive Director Joel Ginsberg said.
Routine homophobia can cause low self-esteem or depression in some gay men, who are often exposed not to gay role models or mentors, but to a culture where smoking, drinking and recreational drug use is less frowned upon, according to the GLMA report.
The GLMA report sounds an alarm to the rest of the medical establishment to not write-off meth addiction as hopeless and untreatable, and to existing drug prevention programs to become more culturally sensitive to the unique social and sexual role crystal meth plays for some gay users.
“So many existing treatment programs are not places where people are receptive to honest conversations about gay sexuality,” Ginsberg said. “And so many health care providers are overly stigmatizing meth users — being afraid of taking them, and sending out a message of hopelessness.”
Meth-specific prevention programs are in an embryonic stage and remain largely untested. Comprehensive, but tailored prevention programs that combine teaching recovering meth users how to abstain from the drug, offering incentives to remain clean, motivational counseling and traditional strategies such as 12-step programs offer the greatest possibility for success, according to the GLMA report.
Federal law enforcement officials in Georgia sent an e-mail last month to thousands of students in the state’s public and private colleges, warning them of the physical and legal dangers of meth. There are no similar federally funded prevention campaigns targeting gay and bisexual meth users in Georgia, according to Ruth Porter-Whipple, public information for the Atlanta division of the Drug Enforcement Agency.
“The majority of our demand-reduction programs target kids,” Porter-Whipple said.
Calling attention to the crystal meth problem among gay men without slipping into hysteria is difficult, Ginsberg said.
“What’s the right level of alarm? We just really don’t know,” he said. “It’s not something one needs to be hyperbolic about, but this is a very serious problem.”
Several participants in the GLMA focus groups expressed weariness of so-called “reefer madness” prevention campaigns that use taglines such as “Meth=Death” to frighten people away from the drug.
“There’s always the potential people will write off something if they think it’s exaggerating,” Ginsberg said.
The Atlanta Meth Task Force placed two “Meth=Death” billboards along Cheshire Bridge Road in recent months, and Dew said the group went for “shock value” to ignite discussion about meth use.
“In Atlanta, we don’t have the infrastructure, the community awareness that other cities [in the GLMA focus groups] have, and so we’re not starting at the same place those communities are,” Dew said. “What we’re trying to do is generate interest and discussion, and in doing that, it’s often very helpful to run a provocative ad.”
Ryan Lee can be reached at rlee@sovo.com
