DC Community Forum on Crystal Meth

The DC Crystal Meth Working Group held an open town hall on February 26th entitled ‘The State of the Crystal Meth Epidemic in Washington DC’, which was co-sponsored by several community groups (additional pictures from this event are available on our flickr page).

A number of speakers emphasized the connections between crystal meth (methamphetamine) and new HIV infections in the District of Columbia.

Dr. Mariana Niemtzoff, Director of Behavioral Health Services for Whitman Walker, stated that last year 73% of the clients receiving treatment for amphetamine use were HIV positive. This is an increase from previous years where the rate was around 55%.

A notable frustration during the coarse of the evening was lack of data from DOH (deja vous?), which makes it hard to know what's really happening with Meth in DC.

On a personal note as a gay guy in DC, I found myself wanting to hear more about why this drug has taken hold in the gay men's community, and why despite having all of the information and fully understanding the consequences, gay men in DC still make bad decisions about meth, about sex, and about other risk behaviors.

I know that I sometimes make bad decisions (yes, there, I said it) when I'm lonely, when I'm insecure, when I'm depressed, when I don't have my friends around, when the guy I'm with is really hot, etc .... Lots of reasons.

And for me, the solution to the meth problem is not just having a doctor make sure you understand the medical consequences of meth, and not just having a prosecutor make sure you understand the legal consequences of the meth.

For me the solution has to be addressing the heart of the matter: why, at certain times in our lives, these consequences just don't seem to matter ... and we end up making bad decisions about alcohol, or crystal, or meth, or whatever ...

As gay men we continue to live in a society that doesn't fully value who we are. And let's face it, sometimes we don't fully value each other.

We rarely talk about how depression impacts the health of gay men. And even more rare our conversations about how we build more inclusive, welcoming, and loving environments to support gay men in the DC.

I'm really inspired by work done in other parts of the country around this. Manifest Love, a group of gay men finding new ways to be with and for each other, is one example of what I'm talking about. Check out the site.

At any rate, I think the forum Monday night was a good start, and I'm glad the Crystal Meth Working Group is going to continue to work on this issue.

The mission of the DC Crystal Meth Working Group is to provide information and resources to help people make informed decisions about crystal meth. For more information, visit www.letstalkaboutmeth.org.