In February 2005, New York City public health officials announced the alarming threat of a supposed "HIV superbug." The aggressive and previously undocumented infection was apparently the result of a weekend binge of crystal methamphetamine and unprotected anal sex with multiple partners. It was a false alarm.
What caused this ready-made doomsday scenario? A few factors immediately come to mind. The politics of HIV-prevention and treatment. Activism looking for a cause in an era when more HIV-positive men live longer and asymptomatic lives. And, most importantly, the scare around gay men and crystal, which is extensively documented in Suicide Tuesday: Gay Men and the Crystal Meth Scare by Duncan Osborne. The catchphrase in the title might not be familiar to most readers, but, "Suicide Tuesdays" is the nickname of the extremely popular Tuesday meetings at Crystal Meth Anonymous support groups in LA, NYC and Miami. They're often packed with gay men who are crashing after a weekend of partying with "tina."
Osborne says that his goal was to transcend the "meth myths" that have accompanied crystal’s growing popularity in recent years. In tight, well-written prose, the veteran lgbt journalist traces tina's growth from a seemingly harmless mood enhancer popular on the West Coast to the drug of choice for circuitboys and PNP across the country. Of course, most gay men are not using. However, a proven connection between crystal use and unsafe sex has focused a new wave of unwelcome media attention on the gays.
Osborne argues that mere prevention cannot be expected to become the ultimate strategy to curb crystal use. After presenting exhaustive research and appealing to our collective common sense, he persuasively argues that harm reduction must be considered.
The first half of the book outlines the current crystal "epidemic", traces the drug's history to the 19th century, and, fully explores its longtime use by both gays and straights. The second half requires more attention. The history of HIV activism in NYC (which the writer has been involved in for many years) is presented in extreme detail. A substantial number of empirical studies are presented which, obviously, take more time to digest. However, Suicide Tuesday is less than two hundred pages so you could easily devour the book in a day or two. It's a serious topic and Duncan Osborne's writing is right on target.
Suicide Tuesday: Gay Men and the Crystal Meth Scare (Amazon)
Previously:
(Virtual) Sex and the City (Rod 2.0) The New Face of Crystal Meth (Rod 2.0) Crystal Meth-Related Emergency (Rod 2.0) AIDS Superbug Does Not Exist (Towleroad) The Invention of Patient Zero (New York)
Rod, this is why I come to this site. In five or ten minutes I read about Nelly, Bloahnik shoes, crystal meth and HIV and the first black news presenter in Paris.
I love this site thank you.
Posted by: greg | 09 March 2006 at 03:05