Eleven percent of
respondents to Project CHAT, a Chicago health
department survey of 1,147 gay and bisexual men in the city,
said they have used crystal meth at least once within
the past year, the Chicago Free Press reports. Of the
Chicago meth users, 20% reported being weekly users of
the drug, 22% were HIV-positive, and 40% had
unprotected anal sex with casual partners. Only 8% of
gay and bisexual meth nonusers surveyed reported being
HIV-positive, and only 16% of nonusers reported unprotected
anal sex with casual partners. Gay meth users also
were three times more likely than nonusers to be
infected with syphilis or gonorrhea and were four times
more likely to meet sex partners at sex clubs and
bathhouses. Overall, gay and bisexual men were shown
to be seven times more likely to have used meth in the
past year than heterosexual Chicago men. (Advocate.com)