Crystal meth and the Gay Community
The gay community has lost an entire generation of mentors and leaders, a segment of the community that we have to work to rebuild and sustain. Without this group of wise and experienced ‘guidance counselors’, gay men have become scattered and disorganized. We have turned to AOL and Internet chat rooms to find community and social support, but instead find easy sex, PnP and Bare Back sex, and Meth addiction,”
-Bryan Levinson,(Strength In Numbers)
Los Angeles.
A full house packed the West Hollywood Auditorium late last year, for a meeting to deal with the Crystal Meth epidemic in the gay community, that has resulted in an phenomenal increase in recent HIV positive cases, reminiscent of the early days of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s.
A panel of celebrity speakers in the entertainment industry as well as HIV services professions, most of whom are either former Crystal Meth addicts and/or HIV positive themselves, shared medical, sociological, as well as legal information on Crystal Meth for the first hour, followed by an hour and one-half of personal experiences from recovering Meth addicts in the audience, most of whom are now HIV positive as well.
The panel was moderated by West Hollywood Mayor John Duran, who is Latino and HIV positive. He stated he has been in recovery for eight years, although he did not disclose what his addiction(s) were.
Paul LeKakis had a hit dance track “Boom Boom Boom Let’s Go Back To My Room” which peaked as the AIDS epidemic first hit the U.S. in the early 1980s. He has been in recovery from drug use and treatment for HIV for the past seven years. He led off the discussion, describing his introduction to Crystal in the gay party boy world: “I was a cocaine baby, I switched to crystal meth because cocaine was not as available as crystal. I didn’t like staying up for days, I didn’t like the feeling it gave me,” he told the audience.
“Crystal gives you this thirst for sex, but no matter how many sexual encounters you have, your thirst is never quenched,” LeKakis described.
When he disclosed to sexual partners that he was HIV positive, they would “choose certain sexual positions and practices. I always wonder what it might have been if I hadn’t been HIV positive, or if I hadn’t told them,” he wondered
Looking for a gay friendly drug rehab or alcohol rehab, go to www.gay-rehab.com or call the national gay friendly drug rehab helpline at 1-800-511-9225.
