Pubdate: Sat, 24 Jun 2006
Source: Reno Gazette-Journal (NV)
Copyright: 2006 Reno Gazette-Journal
Contact: http://www.rgj.com/helpdesk/news/letter-to-editor.php
Website: http://www.rgj.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/363
Author: Alex Newman
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

Series: Meth: Shattering Lives In Northern Nevada

A three-month Reno Gazette-Journal investigation found that 
methamphetamine's grip on the Truckee Meadows has become a stranglehold.

CRYSTAL METH PUSHES HIV NUMBERS HIGHER IN WASHOE COUNTY

An April 7 post on a Reno Web site's "men seeking men" personals: 
"HORNED UP PNP-BOY-TOY LOOKING FOR WEEKEND FUN."

Click the link and there are pictures and more explanation. "I would 
like to PNP with you and do whatever your fantasies want ... I love 
to get real intense with a guy after we've gotten buzzed a bit."

For in-the-know gay men, this is a call for meth-infused, sometimes 
violent sex that can last for hours when users meet. PNP stands for 
party and play, a key part of a lifestyle among men who have sex with 
men. Experts say meth use is linked with rising reports of HIV and 
other sexually transmitted diseases among homosexual men and men who 
have sex with other men.

According to numbers released by the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention last year, the number of men who have sex with men, have 
tested positive for HIV and have told testers they had used crystal 
meth has tripled since 2001. More than 10 percent of these men who 
were treated said they had used methamphetamine.

"I tell people this is a time bomb waiting to go off," said Jennifer 
Howell, who teaches HIV prevention for the Washoe County District 
Health Department. "You have people who are doing whatever they need 
to do to maintain their addiction, whether that's sexual behaviors or 
trading sex for drugs, money, favors."

Howell said Washoe County may change its approach and start asking 
people who come in for HIV tests about specific drug use, such as 
methamphetamine.

A quick decline

Meth users who contract HIV through sharing needles or risky sex 
quickly spiral into full-blown AIDS because the meth lifestyle allows 
little sleep and nutrition.

"They are the picture of AIDS from the '80s," Howell said. "You know 
"" the sunken cheeks, the sunken eyes and wasting away."

Ad campaigns in New York and San Francisco are geared toward 
homosexual meth users, warning them about the risk of contracting 
HIV. Howell said the same problem haunts Reno's gay party scene.

Older people say the younger meth users who didn't watch friends die 
from the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s don't realize the risk.

"People seem to be into this 'it's a party' mode," Howell said. "Very 
independent, enjoying their freedom and they're enjoying that time in 
their life and consequences aren't real to them. Whatever comes their 
way, they're confident they can handle it."

Part of the problem is the risky sexual behavior that users engage in 
while high on meth.

A CDC study found that 16 percent of men having sex with men used 
meth the last time they had anal sex. The San Francisco Department of 
Public Health found that men who used meth and Viagra together were 
six times more likely to be diagnosed with syphilis than those who 
did not use either drug. Another San Francisco study found that 17.4 
percent of the 1,263 men having sex with men who used the public 
clinic treating sexually transmitted diseases admitted to using meth 
in the past month.

HIV-positive meth users don't feel sick while high and often don't 
use a condom during sex because the drug reduces inhibition, experts said.

Lines in the bathroom

Steve, the owner of a gay bathhouse in Reno, tries desperately to 
keep drugs and alcohol out of his establishment. Steve asked his last 
name not be used.

"I just want my customers to practice safe sex," Steve said. "That's 
all I want. No alcohol and you can't be under the influence."

The two-story bathhouse, which Steve has owned since 1983, has 35 
private rooms, a steam room, a dry sauna and a television lounge.

Steve scatters AIDS posters throughout the building and has condoms 
in every room.

Still, the drugs and alcohol can get past his front desk. He said he 
had an employee once who was a meth user and let his friends inside.

"I just wish there was a way it didn't have to be like this," said 
Steve, who doesn't go to gay bars because of the presence of drugs. 
"The crank and crystal meth help people deal with the fact of being 
gay. I used to go to a local gay bar and they were doing lines in the 
bathroom."

Steve said his stance against alcohol and drugs affects his business, 
but he said he wants to keep HIV-negative gay men negative.

"The club could be extremely packed all the time if it were allowed," he said.

'Real bad choices'

After watching the risky lifestyles of customers in a now-closed 
predominantly gay bar where he worked, Eddie Reynoso found Howell and 
now helps her pass out condoms and bleach kits to gay users.

"Everyone would turn a blind eye," said Reynoso, a 26-year-old gay 
man. "I noticed that while bartending, a lot of the guys that were 
there were incredibly high risk. They were just making real bad choices."

If customers didn't have enough money, Reynoso would get tips in the 
form of pain pills, marijuana and cocaine.

"I don't know how many times I walked into the restroom to see people 
doing a line off the toilet," he said.

Some of Reynoso's friends participate in a weekend party circuit with 
trips to the Bay Area or other parts of California for non-stop 
dancing and sex parties.

"People in my age group, we didn't see the onslaught of AIDS," 
Reynoso said. "We didn't see the dying. When I think of people who 
are engaging in sex and being strung out, I don't think they realize 
the risks they are putting themselves in."
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman