The Health issue: Retrovirus Conference Highlights Long-Term HIV Survival, p.7
Microbicides on the Cutting Edge, 0.9
... AMP THE BB3IME OF FEAR IS
BROCEfV, AND THE FTOME Fft/D THEIR
courage and fwd -their voice,
OEWOCRACy 15 THEIR GO*d.,AM> TYRANTS
theasewes HAVE. REASON/To fear.
April 1, 2005
Serving the Carolinas For Over 25 Years!
volume 26, Number 7 -
By Bob Roebr
Contributing Writer
gyjijlhe breadth of challenges on iisues of js
; . health posed by the Busji administration and
.: Congress were laid out at the spring meeting §1
■ r of the National Coalition for LGBT Health in
. Washington, DC on March 14. Money is.
; tighter than ever and social conservatives are ?
■ relentless in trying to impose their moral
§ r vision upon the rest of the country.
Social conservative Claude Allen has.
} moved from the number two position at the “
Department of Health and Human Services '
; ... (HHS) to be domestic policy adviser at the
White House. "That is going to present som|jr®
very big challenges for us over the next
years," said Carl Schmidt, a lobbyist for
fei AIDS Institute.
Et Praveerv Fernandes, a lobbyist with the f
Human Rights Campaign, tried to look at die
Plight side of die move, it means that Allen is^fr
‘ - no longer a nominee for a lifetime appoint- ‘
■■ ment as a federal judge to the Fourth Circuit.,^
Court of Appeals; "domestic policy advisor is '
! not a lifetime appointment." „«
There is some hope that the new HHSjl
Secretary Michael Leavitt might not be so >
bad. They noted that he vetoed a piece of anti
gay legislation when he was governor of
Utah. Hie number two position at HHS is
- vacant and die eventual nominee will be
| dosely scrutinized for meaning. ;||gi
«| Schmidt was encouraged by the lack .olg|
C comment from the administration on the con-'
. troversy that erupted in New York over a pos- 1
ggsible "super strain" of HIV. He worries that ||
g die five-year reauthorization of the National g
Institutes of Health might be used to cut i
AIDS research funding by those who have g
| argued that AIDS is getting too much money.' ^
ijfc Ryan White AIDS services legislation abcgj|
Igis up for renewal. "It is the only moving vehi^li
fj| cle for domestic HIV/ AIDS legislation. Jtg|
Praveen Fernandes & Cart Schmidt
Grappling with Crystal Meth
in the Gay Male Community
By Bob Roehr
Contributing Writer
Jay Dagenhart became infected with HIV while
addicted to meth. His addiction also led him to "losing
just about every job that I had during my addiction,
being gay-bashed, having a gun pulled on me, declar
ing bankruptcy, and finally becoming homeless; all
because of my aystal meth addiction/'
His was the most riveting presentation heard at a ses
sion on crystal methamphetamine at the spring meet
ing of the National Coalition for LGBT Health in
Washington, DC on March 14.
Dagenhart and a group of other recovering addicts
formed the Philadelphia Crystal Meth Task Force
(www.meth2deatii.org). "We are tired of pushing this
under the rug and not discussing it, so we are going to
talk about it in very bold ways, to change the conversa
tion," he said.
me goal is to change community values so that usmg
crystal and having unprotected sex or being up all
night dancing is seen as inappropriate behavior. "We
are saying, 'Do you realize how addictive this is?"' It is
based on a model developed in New York City.
He recently went to a bathhouse in Philadelphia.
When he disclosed his HIV status to men there, the first
five turned and walked away, "The only person who
was willing to have sex with me was the crystal meth
addict," Dagenhart said.
"This is no mystery. The drug dealers in our commu
nity are setting up shop in bathhouses. They check into
a room, they bring their supply, and they can feed their
sexual addiction, which stems from their crystal meth
addiction."
"They can sell large quantities of the drug without
fear of getting caught because who from the DEA or
police are going to come into the bathhouse—walk
around in a towel with the fear of playing grab ass—
and crack down on the drug problem within our com
munity."
"As gay men we sexualize everything; we shake
hands with our penis. If we can learn to educate one
another and bring the problem into the light we might
have a little more success in dealing with it."
Jay Dagenhart (L) and Gordon Mansergh
The Scope
. Some 15% of HIV positive arvd pegative gay men had
used meth during their most recent sexual encdHMlpM
third only to alcohol and marijuana, according to a 2004
survey in San Francisco, said Gordon Mansergh. The
CDC researcher summarized some of the key findings
presented at two-day meeting on gay men and crystal
meth use that the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) held in mid-January.
Meth users in San Francisco were "1.7 times more
likely to test positive for gonorrhea, nearly two times
more likely to have chlamydia, and nearly five times
more likely to have syphilis." In New York City, HIV+
men were nearly three times more likely to report meth
use during their most recent anal sex encounter.
When pressed as to why meth, which is only one of
many substances of abuse, is getting all of the attention,
Mansergh acknowledged, "It's the drug de jour, in
some ways. Meth is something that we've seen an
increased wave coming in the last 10-15 years. It
becomes a community consciousness because of the
movement...because\jof the rapid increase, but also
because of the rapid devastation."
"One of the recommendations coming out of the con
ference in January is that we don't focus exclusively on
meth, that we focus on all substance abuse, because of
the issue of somebody moving to another substance."
That report will be released shortly.
"I think the risks around alcohol abuse are better
known. I wonder how many young gay men may get
in over their heads before they realize what their risks
are with meth," said David Haltiwanger with the
Chase-Brexton Clinic in Baltimore.
"Part of what we need to do is rebrand crystal meth
so that it is not considered not just another innocent
party drug, but a much more dangerous drug. There
are casual drug users who would never touch heroin; it
has a brand that they are not going to go near." Part of
the solution is to "move crystal across that line so that
people don't think of it as something that you can casu
ally pick up and put down."
continued on page 10
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