Sep 12, 2003  |  By: JOE CREA  | COMMENTS     

For nine years, crystal methamphetamine was a “totally manageable” drug for “Carlos,” a 35-year-old D.C. man who asked to remain anonymous.

His use was limited to the weekends to attain a high that he shared on the dance floor or at small parties with friends. One of his favorite activities was taking a bump of crystal on a Saturday morning, turning up the stereo and cleaning the house.

But in early 2001, the frequency of Carlos’ use of crystal meth increased to dangerous levels. The worry-free Saturday mornings were supplanted by the drug’s well-known menacing hold: binge bumping, lack of sleep, recklessness and as Carlos describes it, an insatiable hunt for “animalistic sex.”

“I started doing things sexually on crystal that I wouldn’t normally do,” said Carlos, who added that he and his partner never practiced unsafe sex during their escapades. “My partner and I started doing three-ways, and I soon found out that we were trying to top our last sexual experience.

“Once you get into the true addictive stage [of crystal], the sexual experience must be bigger than, and more intense than, the previous one. If you did a three-way last weekend, you have to do two three-ways the following weekend, or a four-way. At the time I felt this was all perfectly reasonable and fine.”

Crystal methamphetamine — also known as, crystal, crank, tweak, T, go-fast, speed and Tina — is an amphetamine-based drug designed to stimulate the central nervous system. It is typically snorted, smoked, injected or swallowed and has become a favorite drug among club-goers, notably among gay men.

Studies have shown that the preferred method for taking the drug varies from region to region. According to a 2000 study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, 60 percent of crystal meth users in San Diego prefer to smoke the drug, while a majority of users in the Minneapolis area sniff it. In Texas, 60 percent of users were found to be injecting the drug.

According to the 2000 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, an estimated 8.8 million people (four percent of the population) have tried methamphetamine at some time in their lives, up from 4.8 million in 1996.

Regional data suggest that the problem is on the rise among gay men. In San Francisco, health officials estimate that up to 40 percent of gay men have tried crystal meth, according to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle.

In New York, a study last year found that more than 50 percent of gay men who admitted to using drugs or alcohol in the previous year had also tried crystal meth, up from 10 percent of gay men surveyed in bars and clubs in 1998, according to research by the Center for HIV/AIDS Educational Studies & Training.

One bump of crystal can result in a six- to 24-hour high, marked by a decreased appetite and lowered inhibitions, said Joseph LaFleur, a licensed, independent clinical social worker and club-drug counselor in the D.C. area.

“Crystal meth gives one a sense of well-being and belonging,” LaFleur said. “People say they easily fit into most social situations, have more energy for dancing, better interactions with people and a lot of folks use it to enhance their sexual experiences.”

But despite the perceived “benefits” the drug produces, the immediate and long-term results are harmful, said Michael Siever, director of the Stonewall Project, a harm reduction-counseling program for gay and bisexual men in San Francisco.

“A lot of people, over time, start to get more and more paranoid,” Siever said. “They get psychotic; the crash is horrible. Everyone is ready to quit while they are crashing but that subsides. … One of the biggest side effects is that people don’t take care of themselves when they are high — they don’t eat, sleep — and the drug has some pretty long-term lasting effects on your brain chemistry. It strongly impacts the dopamine in your brain and that does not heal quickly.”

Siever described crystal abuse as an ongoing crisis that has been an issue for many years. He said statistics in California show that it is the most commonly used drug on the West Coast.

The road to HIV
One of the biggest problems related to crystal abuse is its strong link to risky sex and HIV transmission, Siever said.

“The two issues are intertwined,” he said. “A lot of men shoot speed and that’s a possible method of HIV transmission. And secondly, the reality for most gay men is that when they get high, they tend to have ...