METHAMPHETAMINE TAKING A TOLL ON GAYS

Perched in front of a laptop in his South Beach apartment, Marc Cohen logs
in to a popular South Florida gay Internet chatroom where men banter in
hopes of finding sex partners, drugs or both.

One guy zips into the room with a quick request: "Hey, anybody know where I
can score some Tina?"

Tina is street slang for methamphetamine, specifically the crystal form of
a powerful and highly addictive drug that has inflicted a heavy physical
and psychological toll, particularly on South Florida gay men.

In fact, three of Cohen's friends have died from side effects of the drug,
two of them last year. That's why he grimaces when he reads the chat
message. As a gay activist and president of the United Foundation for AIDS,
he visits chatrooms regularly to try to cajole people to get tested or get
into drug treatment.

In one instance a young man shares that he's interested in attending a
support group meeting for addicts but can't because it conflicts with his
class schedule.

Not a problem for Cohen. "I began to add more [meetings] with you in my
heart," he types.

Methamphetamine use is proliferating among gay men because it causes a
heightened sex drive, stamina and euphoria, according to gay activists and
health experts. That makes it particularly appealing to men who participate
in the circuit party and club scenes, which features around-the-clock partying.

Last year, Cohen and several health and law enforcement officers formed the
South Florida Crystal Meth Task Force to track the drug's usage and
manufacture in the region. In November, the task force held a workshop in
Fort Lauderdale to alert residents to the drug's dangerous side effects
that drew more than 500 people. The group will hold a similar symposium in
Miami Beach on April 21.

Earlier this month, at a national conference on sexually transmitted
diseases, government health experts announced findings in separate new
studies that crystal methamphetamine use contributed to a continuing spike
in sexually transmitted diseases -- including HIV and syphilis -- among gay
and bisexual men.

A study conducted by the San Francisco health department of more than 1,200
gay men in that city found that more than 17 percent who went to the
department's STD clinic between November 2002 and March 2003 had used
crystal four weeks or less before their visit. Those men were twice as
likely to be HIV positive and nearly five times as likely to have syphilis
than nonusers. The users also reported having more sex partners than nonusers.

HOME LABS

Methamphetamine is typically brought into Florida from the West Coast and
the Southwest. But to the dismay of law enforcement officers, increasing
amounts are manufactured in home-based labs and are made of a combination
of chemicals that can be found in regular products on pharmacy or
home-improvement store shelves. It is a white, odorless powder that
dissolves in water and can be injected or snorted.

The rock-hard crystal form, which is more powerful and lasts longer, can be
smoked or snorted. Crystal is viewed as a poor man's form of cocaine,
although federal drug agents say that may be changing. Prices vary by
region, but crystal costs about $80 to $100 per gram in South Florida.

"The price of cocaine and meth are similar in terms of quantity, but meth
has longer duration of action," said Jim Hall, executive director of Up
Front Drug Information Center in South Miami-Dade. "That's part of it's
appeal."

Mildly popular in the 1970s but overshadowed by cocaine and crack,
methamphetamine resurfaced on the West Coast about 16 years ago.

Now the drug, also known as Tina, crank, ice and speed, has cut across the
country to become a growing national nuisance, with a profile of users that
varies by region: housewives in Southern California and the Midwest,
college students in the Northeast and families in the South.

South Beach clubgoers often use it with other drugs, especially Ecstasy,
GHB and Viagra. Dan Carlson, a New York gay activist who visits South
Florida frequently, said visitors bring crystal from out of state, or know
where to find it once they hit the clubs.

"It makes you feel everything is all right, and reinforces the pleasure
part of your brain that says go back for more," said Carlson, recalling the
Winter Party three years ago during which he and his partner partied for
nearly five days straight.

Afterward, however, came the crash that filled him with paranoia and
hopelessness.

"I was suicidal," he said. "No one told me this stuff will make you so
addictive that nothing else will matter in your life and makes you do
things you never thought you would do."

TAKEN DOWN FAST

Dane, an HIV-positive Miami man who has used a smorgasbord of illicit drugs
for nearly 20 years, said his 12-year dance with crystal meth took him down
faster than any of the others. He doesn't want his last name used because
he is in recovery and getting his life together.

During his peak usage, he says he spent up to $400 a day on crystal. "I
felt powerful, like I could do anything," Dane said.

But because of crystal, he never held a regular job. He turned tricks a to
make money and get more drugs. Safe sex was not on his mind.

"I didn't care what [men] did to me," he said. "I just wanted to get high."

Now in his 10th month of recovery, Dane has enrolled at Miami-Dade
College's Wolfson campus, where he studies computer information systems and
art animation.

"I'm valuable," he said. "I can live without drugs in my system."

Health experts point out that chronic usage can cause elevated body
temperature, convulsions, episodes of violent behavior, insomnia, paranoia,
deep depression and death.

Sara Magnus, addiction specialist at The Village treatment center near
downtown Miami, said four men with crystal meth addictions have been
admitted since January, equaling the number of patients who came with the
same complaint last year. All are HIV positive.

"It affects them financially, mentally and physically," she said. "The
habit takes over and their health declines. Their life is spinning out of
control."

METH = DEATH CAMPAIGN

Cohen started a campaign last year called Meth Equals Death to spread the
word about the dangers of crystal methamphetamine. The campaign includes
the chatroom outreach, support groups for crystal users in Miami-Dade and
Broward, and two websites that attract people from as far away as Australia.

Cohen spends as many as five hours a day chatting online, hoping to meet
men who are receptive to his advice.

Sometimes he will counsel a person online for months to gain their trust in
hopes of convincing them to get tested or seek drug abuse treatment.

In his two years of doing this, he said, most have appreciated his work.

"We need to keep people informed in high risk zones," Cohen said. "We're
dedicated to what we're doing."

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