New York crystal meth PSA to coincide with Pride Month (12711)

New York's Crystal Meth Working Group has unveiled a new public service announcement to coincide with Gay Pride Month in June. Carrying the tagline "Crystal meth: Nothing to be proud of," The ad will appear in magazines and outdoor spaces throughout the city to encourage gay men to avoid using the illicit club drug. The ad also appears in the pride issue of The Advocate and will be featured in New York's June 27 Gay Pride March.

Working Group members say meth use has grown alarmingly in New York, with between 10% and 20% of the city's gay and bisexual men having used the drug. They also say HIV infection rates are increasing due to meth use, which lowers inhibitions and impairs judgment, leading to more unprotected sex. The current ad compares gay pride in New York City in 1994--the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots--with today. "In 1994, we threw a big party, collectively," says Working Group member and ACT UP founder Peter Staley. "We survived the discrimination and gay bashing of the pre-Stonewall era, and HIV infection rates among gay men were declining. A decade later, an important victory is being eroded, and it is destroying this community."

Staley single-handedly launched the city's anti-meth campaign in January when he personally funded an ad campaign that carried the tagline "Buy crystal, get HIV free." The new ads can be seen online at www.hivforumnyc.org.