LOCAL DIRECTOR EXPLORES METH AMONG GAYS

As the mostly male audience settled into their seats, some eating
popcorn and chatting with friends at the Palm Springs International
Film Festival premiere of "Meth"on Monday, filmmaker Todd Ahlberg
warned them about his documentary.

"For anyone recovering from addiction there could be some trigger
moments here so don't feel bad if you need to run out this is not a
happy-go-lucky film," he said.

With honest, open and at times brutally graphic testimonies, the
documentary explores the alarming rise of crystal methamphetamine use
in the gay community.

Through interviews with 11 gay men from across the country, the Palm
Springs filmmaker exposes the allure of the drug and the tragic
effects it has on users.

"It's (the film) causing people to stop and think and look at the
train wreck that a lot of our friends' lives are in and for some
people, the train wreck their own lives are in," Ahlberg said.

The film, which shows again today, begins with descriptions of
euphoria and unimaginable highs as the the men talk about the first
time they used meth, some admitting that they miss the drug, also
referred to as "Tina."

But it quickly turns dark with the depressing and frustrating reality
of what their lives became due to their addiction.

Crime, sexually transmitted diseases and homelessness are a few of
the outcomes for the men profiled in Ahlberg's film.

"This is a powerful drug with a lot of seduction and allure," he said.

Ahlberg became interested in the subject while touring the gay
festival circuit.

"At that time I kept hearing about how crystal meth was becoming more
and more a part of that scene," he said.

He received hundreds of responses after posting an online ad asking
for men who were willing to tell their stories.

Some of the men profiled in the film include current users like
Andrew McGregor, an Arizona resident who, while being filmed, sold
and used meth on a daily basis.

McGregor is visibly high and perspiring during most of his
interviews. He is also shown shooting up the drug with a friend and
sitting next to his mother, who thinks her son is clean and getting
his life back together.

His outcome is not a happy one.

"Unfortunately he's at the end of his rope, he doesn't know what to
he lost everything, he ended up getting very sick, in and out of the
hospital with full-blown AIDS," Ahlberg said.

With a drug that enhances the libido, and reduces inhibitions,
sexually transmitted diseases like HIV are often the deadly side effects.

And while meth is a problem in the straight community as well, and
here in the desert where authorities describe it as a growing
epidemic, many see it as a particular danger to the gay community.

"Most of our new clients do report using meth," said David Barrett,
case manager for the Desert AIDS Project.

"It's a very dangerous drug that brings out the darker sides of
sexual fantasies. It can lead to risky sexual behaviors (like) not
using condoms," he said.

He said local outreach surveys conducted by DAP in the gay community
show that about one out of three respondents reported using crystal
meth in the last year.

Palm Springs resident Stephan Schell, who also appears in the film,
said he moved to Palm Springs to try to escape his meth addiction,
only to find the drug readily available here, too.

"My problems followed me here," he said.

"For 17 years I was consumed by this. From the moment I first tried
it I knew immediately I would spend the rest of my life doing it - I
knew it," he said.

At one point he was living on the streets in Palm Springs and
sleeping in friends' back yards.

But Schell said he is now sober and working on becoming a counselor.

He hopes his participation in the documentary will convince others to
stay away from the drug, which still hovers over his life.

"I would be lying if I told you I didn't think about it from time to
time," he said.

Ahlberg said one of the biggest surprises for him while working on
this film was experiencing the iron grip meth can have on users.

"I had no idea how addictive a drug could be, how much it could
completely control a life. The days I would live with Andrew just to
watch the drama unfold in his life all because of this sh---y little
drug was amazing to me. I had no idea that could really happen," Ahlberg said.

"But the point of the film is to get people talking, get them a
little pi--ed off to the point where they want to do something," he said.