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from samesame.com.au

another point of view.

Crystal Myth - A Fraction Too Much Fiction
Support, By Christian Taylor, 10th July, 2007

So much gets said about gays and drugs. Like Liza Minelli and homosexual husbands, the two often go hand in hand. We’re in the grip of an ice epidemic, we’re party obsessed, we’re promiscuous barebackers – all too often these are the stories that get us column inches.

Last week two new stories emerged, both from different parts of the world, both saying two very different things. A story from the New Zealand Herald said that gay people are four times more likely to take drugs than their straight counterparts. However, a story from America’s Windy City Times said that most gay people don’t actually take drugs at all.

New Zealand’s Massey University analysed government data from 15,000 people and found that while gays drank broadly similar quantities to straights, they also were twice as likely to use pot, and were 50% more likely to smoke tobacco. Gays were also four times more likely to use speed and acid and three times as likely to take pills.

According to Frank Pega, a spokesperson for the study, we’re all basketcases, running to the bottle because of discrimination. “Other research has already established that gay, lesbian and bisexual people’s substance use is related to their exposure to personal, institutional and societal discrimination… and to social stress arising from this experience,” he said. But is this the case? How many of us actually regard ourselves as victims?

If we jump over to America, Chicago to be specific, things are sounding a little different. Susan Kingston from the King County Department of Public Health in Seattle is an expert on crystal meth, and she’s one of a few who are bringing a breath of fresh air to the gay drug use debate. Crystal meth is being talked about as being the most addictive drug out there, the most impossible to treat and the worst drug to hit gay communities worldwide. According to Kingston, much of the so called ‘ice age’ is a media driven myth. She says that newspapers rarely report on the good news, and as such gay communities suffer the same blows time after time.

“I would be so excited if I heard… a gay newspaper say most gay men don’t use drugs [and] most gay men don’t have HIV; they take care of themselves sexually; they’re not reckless; they’re not irresponsible; they go to work; they shop for groceries; [and] they value love just like anybody else,” said Kingston during a public presentation last month. She says that the hype about crystal has led to it being demonised, even within the community, which stands in the way of those who need help, actually getting it.

“Before we answer the question what are we supposed to do about this meth thing, we really have to think about who we think gay men are. If you think gay men are pools of deficits, then crystal makes complete sense. On the other hand, if you think that gay men need to keep a squeaky-clean image, then anybody who picks up a meth pipe starts to be the deviant who’s making the rest of us look bad, and we need to shove him back into his hole. That’s what’s happening.”

According to Kingston, the worst drug to hit communities worldwide – gay or straight – is actually alcohol. Paul Dillon, formerly from NDARC and now with Drug and Alcohol Research and Training Australia, agrees wholeheartedly. “Alcohol continues to be the number one problem – it has been for a long time, it always will be. But no-one wants to deal with that because it’s at the heart of our community. If that went, what would happen? It’s not so much about gay culture, but more about Australian culture – it’s very hard to beat.”

After years of working in field of drug and alcohol, Dillon says that he’s often gotten upset by people making generalisations based on people who live in the ghetto. “There are many gay couples who live in the suburbs who would never even think about going to Oxford Street, or to a Mardi Gras. We tend not to talk about them and I think that’s quite sad,” says Dillon. “We have to be careful not to reinforce stereotypes. Absolutely there are people who have drug and alcohol problems in our community. But you have to put it into a context – we live in a society and society in general has a bit of a problem, truth be known.”

Dillon says that the gay community is often the group researchers target when they want information on current trends, because we’re usually more honest and as a community, we’re often at the forefront of trends. “This is why we know a lot more about drug use within the gay community than we do about other communities. One of the greatest problems with getting any information about gay men in particular, is where do you access these people from? If you look at much of the data that’s collected around gay men and drug use, it’s not taken across the general population, often it’s done through sex on premises venues, nightclubs, special events. Are you getting a wide cross section of people there? Perhaps not.”

At the end of the day, it’s about recognising that the ‘ice epidemic’ looks less like a plague, and more like a small group who have been affected in a big way. “If you look at the research use is going down, it’s peaked here and sure it’s caused all sorts of significant problems, but is it going to turn everyone into the Incredible Hulk? No, it’s not.”