HEALTH WORKERS SOUND ALARM OVER CRYSTAL METH USE IN GAY COMMUNITY

Fingers tapping, plucking at pant legs, fists clenching and unclenching-by
the time crystal methamphetamine users find themselves in Bob Martel's Three
Bridges Clinic office, it's on the late side.

"They're coming in psychotic, mostly referrals from St. Paul's," says the
alcohol and drug counsellor, speaking to a small gathering of healthcare
workers at a Nov. 3 open discussion on the drug. "Delusions and paranoia,
tinfoil on their heads. And these were high-functioning people."

While some users never become addicted, Martel's seen professionals lose it
all-jobs, homes, relationships.

"The onset of addiction is very quick. It can become chronic dependency
within two weeks."

Called Jib, Chrissy, Kiddy Crack, and Tina on the street, the
chemically-altered ephedrine (a decongestant) is cooked up in labs all over
Vancouver, including the West End, using chemicals easily picked up at any
hardware store. And while cooking it up requires some skill and presents the
danger of explosion, finding the recipe is as easy as a quick search online.

With the first use the brain's chemistry is altered. Soon, compulsive urges
lead to lifestyle changes. Users may stop seeing family and friends and
withdraw from their usual activities. Towards the end, users can't honour
commitments to stop. Jobs are lost, relationships fail, self-esteem
plummets, depression sets in. Then comes paranoia and psychosis-irreversible
damage to the brain.

"It produces violence in many people. I've had people drive their cars into
buildings, thinking they had to avoid capture."

It's cheaper than cocaine by a long shot. Ten bucks buys a point compared to
$40 for cocaine. The high is long-lasting-eight hours compared to the
typical 30-minute cocaine high. And it's accessible. In Vancouver, the
intersection at Bute and Davie Streets has become known as "Crystal
Corners."

"Meth is the drug du jour," Martel says, noting use has spiked in the last
four to five years, particularly among gay men. When smoked, snorted,
injected, or inserted in the rectum, the drug quickly travels to the
pleasure centre of the brain. A feeling of well-being, energy, and power
results. Inhibitions fall away.

Along with the other "perceived" benefits of the drug, male users cite
prolonged erections and intensified orgasms. Eventually, however, use of the
drug leads to impotence and other physical damage related to prolonged and
rough sexual activity.

"It's used (by gay men) as a high to sexual activity... meth and high-risk
sex go hand in hand." And as the rate of meth use among gay men rises, so
does HIV infection.

In B.C., discussions with meth users revealed that 38 per cent had
unprotected sex. Of those aware of their HIV-positive status, 62 per cent
had unprotected sex.

"Most of the gay men I see who are crystal meth users are HIV positive,"
Martel says.

Because meth boosts the reproduction of the virus while weakening the immune
system, users are more vulnerable to infection. Coupled with the increased
likelihood of rough, unprotected sex, the danger of HIV infection jumps.

Worse, treatment is basically nonexistent, says Martel. "We need more
open-ended access to counselling; it's too structured here."