Check it Out: • 1 LB of METH = 5 LBS of   TOXIC WASTE • In 2004 alone, there were more   than 10,000 meth lab cleanups   at a cost of $18.6 million (Source: DEA, NIDA, NIH, USDHHS)

Other Drug Information: Alcohol Cocaine Ecstasy Fentanyl Hallucinogens Heroin Inhalants LSD Marijuana Prescription Drugs Steroids

The Many Faces of Meth: Before After

(Source: Multnomah County Sheriff's Office - Faces of Meth™)

Gay Community Fights Growing Meth Problem

Buy Crystal. Get HIV Free" is just one message being used by health activists to try to combat the growing use of methamphetamine in the gay community, the Associated Press reported April 4.

Meth has become a popular party drug, and there is a strong connection between use of the drug -- which lowers inhibition and raises energy levels -- and unsafe sex in the gay community. "Years from now we'll look back, as gay men, and be pretty despondent that we popularized and glamorized this drug,' said Dan Carlson, a former meth addict and current anti-drug activist in New York. "I'm not anti-partying or anti-sex. But how can we fight for our rights as a sexual minority if we don't establish what's right and wrong in our community, and look out for each other?'

Concern about meth use in the gay community reached a peak in February, when researchers detected a rare strain of deadly HIV virus being spread at New York sex parties where meth use was rampant. "A year and a half ago, this was a whispered-about epidemic," said ex-addict Peter Staley, who developed posters with the "Buy Crystal. Get HIV Free" and "Crystal Free and Sexy" slogans. "If it came up, it was someone bragging about their wild weekend on meth, and no one had the courage to say, 'What the hell are you laughing about?' That's completely changed. When gay men ask a friend about it now, they're as likely to hear, 'That stuff destroys lives,' as they are to hear, 'Oh, you should try this; it's amazing.'"

Community forums and groups like the 12-step based Crystal Meth Anonymous have also helped counter the meth epidemic.

Politically, the timing of the explosion of meth use and its association with unsafe sex comes at a bad time for the gay community. "There is anger at the opportunity this phenomenon is giving the rest of the world to associate the gay identity with promiscuous sex, with out-of-control behavior," said one activist. "We don't need additional opportunities to be perceived negatively."

Addiction and HIV experts like Perry Halkitis of New York University point out that, for many meth users, the root of the problem is not sex but issues like isolation or low self-esteem. "Users are often experiencing mental-health problems," he said. "You have this really vicious cycle of HIV, meth, depression."