Doctors warn gays on crystal meth dangers
Britain is on the brink of gay club drug epidemic Doctors warned today. Crystal meth or Methamphetamine use is already rife amongst the gay dance scene and is about to spiral out of control into the UK’s mainstream culture.
Also known as ‘tina’, ‘krank’ or ‘ice’, the ease of production and euphoric effects have ensured dramatic escalation of the drug’s distribution worldwide. Crystal users experience a temporary sense of supreme confidence, alertness and have an increased perception of self-attractiveness. On the other hand it also delivers paranoia, agitation and violence in some individuals.
Amongst the gay club scene meth is having drastic consequences. The increased arousal fuels users to completely abandon safe sex whilst involving themselves with multiple partners, many of which are HIV+.
One user describes “you don’t think about HIV when you’re high. You feel invincible. Crystal lets you forget about HIV – until you get it.”
A recent study by San Francisco’s University of California revealed that crystal meth users are four times more likely to be infected with HIV than other gay men, and six times less likely to use condoms during sex. Crystal meth use is decimating the gay culture in the US, and now the trend has been set in motion in the UK
Johann Hari from Attitude magazine has stated that “If we want to avoid a renewed crisis, we have to do something that is very difficult for gay people: we have to re-stigmatize bareback sex and make crystal meth socially unacceptable on the gay scene. The alternative is another mass culling of the gay population.”
A potent form of speed, meth is more addictive than heroin and when abused, produces severe damage to the central nervous and cardiovascular system, destroying the heart, brain and spinal cord. Despite the warnings and the evident destruction and decimation of the North American gay scene due to crystal meth, in the UK it remains categorized as a Class B drug, and the government continue to ignore the cry for national awareness campaigns.
