Pubdate: Tue, 25 Oct 2005 Source: Cape Cod Times (MA) Copyright: 2005 Cape Cod Times Contact: http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/72 Author: Karen Jeffrey, Staff Writer CRYSTAL METH RISKS DETAILED AT FORUM PROVINCETOWN - Being raped and beaten did not persuade Danny to give up crystal meth. Nor was he convinced of the drug's destructive powers, despite wrecking two cars, being sentenced to jail and trying to commit suicide. By all accounts, this former Provincetown resident should be dead - either from an overdose or the behaviors that accompanied his drug-taking. "The only reason I'm alive today is because I have a son," says Danny, who asked that his last name not be used. Danny now lives in Boston and was instrumental in organizing some of that city's first 12-step crystal meth support groups. He was back on the Cape yesterday to talk about his experiences with crystal meth at a daylong conference on methamphetamine in Provincetown. Held at the United Methodist Church, the conference drew more than 100 people, including health and human services workers, counselors and law enforcement officers. Massachusetts health and human services authorities are worried that increasing use of this drug, which often lowers inhibitions, will result in an explosion of risky sexual behaviors and subsequent increase in sexually transmitted diseases. Yesterday's conference was sponsored by the Crystal Meth Task Force, a group that includes the AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod, Outer Cape Health Services, Gosnold on Cape Cod, Nantucket AIDS Network and the Infectious Disease Clinical Services of Cape Cod Healthcare. Crystal meth, the popular name for methamphetamine, is a potent drug that can be taken orally, injected or smoked. Like other amphetamines, it works by flooding the brain with serotonin and dopamine, often infusing the user with a sense of euphoria. Additionally, it releases adrenaline in the body, enabling increased physical endurance. Users frequently report increased productivity and sexual endurance. However, when the drug wears off, there is a resulting physical and mental crash, leaving users craving more and more of the drug. "You're always chasing that feeling of the first high you got," said Danny. "You never find it again." Crystal meth has long bedeviled the rest of the country, particularly the West Coast and Midwest, where it has established a stranglehold on some rural communities. It is a potent stimulant, said by some to be highly addictive. It is a feature of the club and party circuit in Boston, where users often take the drug and remain awake and active for days before crashing. On the Cape, its use seems primarily concentrated in Provincetown, among a subculture of young gay men who frequent a party and club circuit, engaging in sex with multiple partners. But the drug is already flooding New Bedford and is readily available in Boston - both sources of illicit drugs on the Cape, according to some of the experts at the conference. Its arrival and use among the general population of drug abusers in Barnstable County is "only a matter of time," they said. To date, the free market may have limited crystal meth use on the Cape. In recent years, heroin and cocaine have been cheaper. Heroin sells for about $10 a dose. A gram of cocaine costs anywhere from $80 to $100 on the Cape, and one gram can contain up to four doses, according to police. Crystal meth, on the other hand, sells for about $80 to $100 per gram, and one gram is a single dose. But as the price goes down, it could become a more popular drug on the Cape. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, methamphetamine is a relatively simple drug to make. Precursor chemicals like pseudoephedrine can be extracted from over-the-counter cold medications and combined with ingredients that are not only readily available but also inexpensive. For approximately $100, a "cook" can produce $1,000 worth of methamphetamine, according to the DEA. Patricia Case, a keynote speaker at the conference and a social epidemiologist at Harvard Medical School, summed up the abuser's perspective with an observation from the late writer Hunter S. Thompson, a known amphetamine user. "Faster, faster until the thrill of speed overcomes the thrill of death," Thompson wrote.