An ad from the Crystal Meth Community Educational Forum includes a graphic depiction of the damage the groups claims can be done by crystal meth use.
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Oct 24, 2003  |  By: CHRISTOPHER SEELY  | COMMENTS |   |  

The “insane” sexual adventures of a man who asked to be identified only as “Shy” escalated since he and his boyfriend started using crystal methamphetamine recreationally two years ago on the weekends.

“Every time my boyfriend and I use Tina it gets more and more intense and insane,” Shy said. “You keep thinking you are going to get your shit together but you don’t.”

Shy and his boyfriend fit the description of a typical gay male couple who both use crystal meth, according to Dr. Brian Dew, an assistant professor at Georgia State University within the department of counseling and psychological services.

Dew specializes in gay and lesbian wellness, including addiction.

“It is not uncommon for two individuals simultaneously using to look for additional sex partners … or feel the need to out do or do better than before,” Dew said.

Shy and his boyfriend have weekend sex romps “for as long as possible with as many people as possible,” Shy said.

Shy does not have any plans to stop using the drug once or twice a month, but he doesn’t consider himself an addict.

“I don’t think I’m an addict, but on the weekend all the sudden I start to look around and wonder where I can find something,” he said. “I’m lucky because I’m living in a place where I can’t find people.”

But the rush associated with using crystal meth hits Shy like a “tidal wave” and his resistance grows weak.

“We keep saying we’re not going to do it, but then we go to the city and it is hard to stay away from,” he said. “It’s because of that feeling you get. Especially in Atlanta, it is very, very hard to stay away from the tina train because it is enjoyable. It makes you feel so good. It gives you clarity.”

Internet sex linked to crystal meth use
The use of crystal meth — also known as speed, crystal, tweak, tina and crank — is more prevalent among gay men than the general population, according to recent surveys.

The 2000 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse reports that four percent of the national population has tried methamphetamine at some point in their lives.

But nationally, 9.5 percent of gay men have used crystal meth, according to a 2001 Urban Men’s Health Study conducted by the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies and the AIDS Research Institute at the University of California.

A new study also shows that a disproportionate amount of gay men who use the Internet to arrange multiple sexual encounters also use crystal meth, according to a 2003 online study administered by Dew at Georgia State.

Dew and his associates surveyed a nationwide sample of 513 gay and bisexual men recruited from AOL chat rooms.

Some 14 percent of those surveyed, or roughly 72 people, reported using crystal meth in the past year.

But crystal meth users constituted 43 percent of respondents who reported having more than 30 sexual partners through the Internet in the past year — a statistically significant finding, Dew said.

“There is something going on that would cause the difference in the sample,” he said.

The Internet proved a useful tool for a recovering crystal meth addict who asked to be identified as Charles.

Charles used the Internet to conduct his business as a male prostitute.

“Crystal is a stimulant and it allowed me to concentrate on sitting down at the computer and cruising for three days at a time,” Charles said.

Shy and his boyfriend normally meet sex partners online, but the two also manhunt at clubs where they can fulfill their desire for sex, Shy said.

“When someone takes meth it usually results in a sharp increase in sexual appetite,” Dew said. “There is a combination in enhancement of sexual desire and an increase in physical activity — a combination that results in sex for hours and hours and hours.”

One reason that crystal meth-induced sex might be so popular among gay men is because there is more of an “opportunity to stay up late” at gay “traditional social venues” for gay men, Dew said.

“There ...