Scott Stiffler at EDGE New York reports findings by Dr. Perry N. Halkitis, a prominent researcher into gay men’s lives at New York University. Several studies show the drug once stereotyped as being a favorite of "Chelsea boys" increasingly becomes the drug of choice for black gay men over 30.
Recent surveys among New York City’s mostly white, and mostly professional gay men [show] meth use is trending downward among young men and Caucusians. That’s the good news. The bad news is that, as tina use has become less acceptable among those populations, it has been trending upward sharply among gay urban African-American men.
Project Hope, a 2006-2007 study involving meth
use among black gay men, confirmed anecdotal evidence that the drug was
making significant inroads among a population that previously was
relatively unscathed by meth abuse. Tina had been perceived as a drug
for "Chelsea boys." No more.
Halkitis notes that the study
indicated meth is a drug that’s infiltrated the African American
community. Compared to Ecstasy or even cocaine, meth delivers a huge
effect at a low cost. "An African American man who is already
experiencing stigma for being black, gay, and poor turns to this drug
to cope," Halkitis says.
In the early stages of studies on the
problem, there was much speculation that black men wouldn’t be using
this drug. But recent upswings and studies like Project Hope
definitively prove that they have taken to tina in a big way. "In
the last six months, we’ve been hearing a lot of anecdotal evident that
there is increasing use among men of color," Stackhouse says. "We’ve
been hearing that particularly in Brooklyn the price is low."
Earlier this year, California drug officials launched MeNotMeth, an $11-million ad campaign to discourage black and Latino gay men from using crystal methamphetamine. In 2005, Chicago health officials began marketing crystal meth awareness PSAs toward younger black gay men who are at the highest risk for becoming HIV positive.
