The Gay and
Lesbian Medical Association is planning to use a $320,000
grant from Hythiam, a health care services management
company focusing on substance abuse, to examine
crystal methamphetamine use among gay and bisexual men
and to make recommendations on how health care providers can
get meth-addicted gay men into treatment.
A 2003 study, led
by the Chicago Department of Public Health and the
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
discovered that approximately 10% of gay men had used
crystal meth at least once in the previous year,
compared with 0.7% of the general U.S. population. In
addition, of those gay men who reported meth use, 20% said
they used it at least once per week. A joint study
conducted from 2000 to 2001 by the University of
California, San Francisco's AIDS Health Project; the
CDC; and the San Francisco Department of Public Health
found that those who used meth were three times as
likely to contract HIV than nonusers.
"The
number of heterosexual meth users far exceeds the number of
gay meth users. However, this drug clearly has a
dangerous impact on a more sizable proportion of the
gay community," says Steven Lee, a GLMA board
member and New York psychiatrist who specializes in the
treatment of methamphetamine addiction in gay men, in
a press statement. "To date there are only
a few studies looking at either medical or behavioral
interventions specifically tailored to meth. Because
use of meth has such harmful consequences and is so
intensely addictive, it is crucial to investigate more
effective treatments."
An advisory board
is being assembled to oversee the project. A series of
focus groups are planned for May and June. GLMA will produce
a paper on the topic in July. (Advocate.com)
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