STUDY LIFTS LID ON RAMPANT METH ABUSE

Valiere, a transgender dominatrix, couldn't control her crystal meth
addiction, which fueled day-long binges of club hopping and sex.

She was finally forced to detox when it led to a health scare.

Valiere is a part of the Bronx's gay community, which has been on
the down-low for years because it has little support politically or
culturally.

But what it does have, according to a new survey, is a significant
methamphetamine-abuse problem.

The Bronx Community Pride Center recently completed the Crystal
Methamphetamine Outreach Campaign, a three-month survey of 480 gay
males in Bronx and Manhattan clubs, gay chat rooms and events.

It found that meth use is as high in the Bronx as in the rest of the city.

"The Bronx has never been studied in terms of its crystal meth use.
Most surveys have been targeting gay white males in Chelsea," said
Lisa Winters, executive director of the Bronx Pride Center. "Most
people thought it wasn't a problem up here."

Besides gathering data on the prevalence of Bronx meth use, survey
director Zachariah Hennessey and outreach coordinators informed
interviewees that the euphoria associated with use of the drug often
leads to unprotected sex.

"It's a long-lasting, euphoric high," he said. "There's a sense of
invincibility."

Valiere, a 22-year-old pre-op transgender who works in a Wall Street
law firm by day and as a dominatrix by night, said there are many
illegal nightclubs where drug use, including crystal meth, is rampant.

She said one Bronx eatery would close at night and open its basement
to partygoers in a soundproof room as the music, alcohol and drugs flowed.

Her work and clubbing took her to Bronx house parties where group
sex was commonly fueled by "power balls" - a mixture of crystal meth
and the date rape drug GHP.

"Your body accumulates so much energy you need to go out. You want
to party, to have sex. Everything is amplified," Valiere said.

She said that what started with her as casual sniffing soon turned
into a $200 to $400 a day habit.

"I was smoking it. I was snorting it," she said. "It's like I turned
into Superwoman. I danced 41/2 hours and then went to a rooftop
party and danced all day."

Methamphetamine attacks fat cells and caused Valiere to drop eight
dress sizes.

Valiere said that last year during a meth binge, she was up and
clubbing for six days straight when she felt sharp pains in her
chest. Her left breast implant ruptured and had to be replaced.

In order to undergo the surgery, she had to detox.