Series: Meth: Shattering Lives In Northern Nevada

A three-month Reno Gazette-Journal investigation found that
methamphetamine's grip on the Truckee Meadows has become a stranglehold.

CRYSTAL METH PUSHES HIV NUMBERS HIGHER IN WASHOE COUNTY

An April 7 post on a Reno Web site's "men seeking men" personals:
"HORNED UP PNP-BOY-TOY LOOKING FOR WEEKEND FUN."

Click the link and there are pictures and more explanation. "I would
like to PNP with you and do whatever your fantasies want ... I love
to get real intense with a guy after we've gotten buzzed a bit."

For in-the-know gay men, this is a call for meth-infused, sometimes
violent sex that can last for hours when users meet. PNP stands for
party and play, a key part of a lifestyle among men who have sex with
men. Experts say meth use is linked with rising reports of HIV and
other sexually transmitted diseases among homosexual men and men who
have sex with other men.

According to numbers released by the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention last year, the number of men who have sex with men, have
tested positive for HIV and have told testers they had used crystal
meth has tripled since 2001. More than 10 percent of these men who
were treated said they had used methamphetamine.

"I tell people this is a time bomb waiting to go off," said Jennifer
Howell, who teaches HIV prevention for the Washoe County District
Health Department. "You have people who are doing whatever they need
to do to maintain their addiction, whether that's sexual behaviors or
trading sex for drugs, money, favors."

Howell said Washoe County may change its approach and start asking
people who come in for HIV tests about specific drug use, such as
methamphetamine.

A quick decline

Meth users who contract HIV through sharing needles or risky sex
quickly spiral into full-blown AIDS because the meth lifestyle allows
little sleep and nutrition.

"They are the picture of AIDS from the '80s," Howell said. "You know
"" the sunken cheeks, the sunken eyes and wasting away."

Ad campaigns in New York and San Francisco are geared toward
homosexual meth users, warning them about the risk of contracting
HIV. Howell said the same problem haunts Reno's gay party scene.

Older people say the younger meth users who didn't watch friends die
from the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s don't realize the risk.

"People seem to be into this 'it's a party' mode," Howell said. "Very
independent, enjoying their freedom and they're enjoying that time in
their life and consequences aren't real to them. Whatever comes their
way, they're confident they can handle it."

Part of the problem is the risky sexual behavior that users engage in
while high on meth.

A CDC study found that 16 percent of men having sex with men used
meth the last time they had anal sex. The San Francisco Department of
Public Health found that men who used meth and Viagra together were
six times more likely to be diagnosed with syphilis than those who
did not use either drug. Another San Francisco study found that 17.4
percent of the 1,263 men having sex with men who used the public
clinic treating sexually transmitted diseases admitted to using meth
in the past month.

HIV-positive meth users don't feel sick while high and often don't
use a condom during sex because the drug reduces inhibition, experts said.

Lines in the bathroom

Steve, the owner of a gay bathhouse in Reno, tries desperately to
keep drugs and alcohol out of his establishment. Steve asked his last
name not be used.

"I just want my customers to practice safe sex," Steve said. "That's
all I want. No alcohol and you can't be under the influence."

The two-story bathhouse, which Steve has owned since 1983, has 35
private rooms, a steam room, a dry sauna and a television lounge.

Steve scatters AIDS posters throughout the building and has condoms
in every room.

Still, the drugs and alcohol can get past his front desk. He said he
had an employee once who was a meth user and let his friends inside.

"I just wish there was a way it didn't have to be like this," said
Steve, who doesn't go to gay bars because of the presence of drugs.
"The crank and crystal meth help people deal with the fact of being
gay. I used to go to a local gay bar and they were doing lines in the
bathroom."

Steve said his stance against alcohol and drugs affects his business,
but he said he wants to keep HIV-negative gay men negative.

"The club could be extremely packed all the time if it were allowed," he said.

'Real bad choices'

After watching the risky lifestyles of customers in a now-closed
predominantly gay bar where he worked, Eddie Reynoso found Howell and
now helps her pass out condoms and bleach kits to gay users.

"Everyone would turn a blind eye," said Reynoso, a 26-year-old gay
man. "I noticed that while bartending, a lot of the guys that were
there were incredibly high risk. They were just making real bad choices."

If customers didn't have enough money, Reynoso would get tips in the
form of pain pills, marijuana and cocaine.

"I don't know how many times I walked into the restroom to see people
doing a line off the toilet," he said.

Some of Reynoso's friends participate in a weekend party circuit with
trips to the Bay Area or other parts of California for non-stop
dancing and sex parties.

"People in my age group, we didn't see the onslaught of AIDS,"
Reynoso said. "We didn't see the dying. When I think of people who
are engaging in sex and being strung out, I don't think they realize
the risks they are putting themselves in."