Health News
2006-02-22
New York fights
meth use among black and Latino gay men
Rise in meth use
among black and Latino gay men has health officials
worried.
While c
While crystal
meth use was at one time largely confined to New York
City’s gay white male population, use of the drug has
spread to African-American and Latino gay men in the
city, groups already at high risk for HIV infection,
The New York Times reports. A recent New
York University study of meth users showed 32% were
white, 23% were Latino, and 22% were African-American. At
New York City’s Gay Men’s Health Crisis,
about 10% of members of a support group for meth users
are African-American, up from just 2% in 2001.
The rise in meth
use among minority gay men has health officials worried.
HIV already disproportionately affects African-Americans;
studies have shown nearly half of urban gay black men
are HIV-positive. And with other research showing that
meth users are up to three times more likely to be
infected with HIV than nonusers, health officials are
worried that HIV rates are going to skyrocket among
gay Latino and African-American men who use the drug.
To help fight
meth use among minorities in the city, the Latino
Commission, with funding from the city health department,
has begun placing Spanish-language educational
material on the Internet and in city bars and clubs.
The Positive Health Project has staff members working to
educate Internet users about the dangers of crystal meth and
HIV, even by entering chat rooms popular among
minority men looking to “party-n-play,”
a term meaning to meet up, take crystal meth, and have
sex—usually unprotected sex—under the
influence of the drug. Some PHP members also attend
private sex parties in the city, where meth use and
unprotected sex are common, to urge attendees to use
condoms. Other groups, like Harlem United, are
launching support groups for minority meth users in an
effort to slow the spread of the drug. (Advocate.com)
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