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Post by Hoosier Hillbilly on Nov 8, 2013 7:55:59 GMT -5
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Post by Hoosier Hillbilly on Nov 9, 2013 9:18:26 GMT -5
The Public Health Crisis of Methamphetamine Use and the HIV Epidemic
Wisconsin HIV Prevention Community Planning Council
Introduction
Methamphetamine (meth) use is a major public health threat to individuals, families, and communities. It is a problem that affects many segments of society regardless of gender, age, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, or race/ethnicity.
Research and anecdotal reports indicate that meth use is associated with sexual risk and injection drug use behaviors that are a major challenge in preventing and controlling HIV infection and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), especially among men who have sex with men (MSM).
Three studies reported at the 2004 National STD Prevention Conference indicated that meth use was associated with high-risk behaviors and STD infections among MSM in San Francisco. A Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study of 388 MSM found that 16 percent used meth the last time they had anal sex. 1 Meth users in this study were twice as likely as non-users to engage in unprotected receptive anal intercourse. Researchers at the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) found that MSM who used meth and Viagra together were 6.1 times more likely to be diagnosed with syphilis than those who did not use either drug.2 Another study from SFDPH found that 17.4 percent of 1,263 MSM who attended the city’s public STD clinic had used meth in the four weeks before their visit. 3 Those who used the drug were more than twice as likely as non-users to be HIV infected, 4.9 times as likely to be diagnosed with syphilis, and 1.7 times as likely to test positive for gonorrhea.
Overview of meth
Meth is a recreational drug that acts as a powerful and addictive stimulant resulting in increased activity, decreased appetite, and a general sense of well-being or euphoria. These effects can last 6 to 8 hours or longer and can result in hyperexcitability, prolonged periods of sleeplessness, compulsive sexual behaviors, and periods of binge use followed by acute depression. Prolonged use at high levels results in dependence.
Meth is relatively inexpensive and easy to manufacture by using common household products and over-the-counter cold medications containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine. Research demonstrates regional variations in the manner in which meth is consumed. The most common routes are snorting, smoking, injecting or swallowing. Survey research for the years 2000 and 2001 found that 60% of meth users in San Diego smoked the drug while a majority of users in Minneapolis sniffed it and 60% of users in Texas injected it.4 Nationally, meth use is reported to be the second most frequent reason for seeking substance abuse treatment, behind alcohol.
Although some illicit meth has been manufactured in home-made or noncommercial labs, legislation restricting access to over-the-counter cold and allergy products containing pseudoephedrine has usually deterred the operation of such labs. While eliminating home-based labs is an important priority, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) estimates that 80% of meth in the U.S. comes from “superlabs” controlled by Mexican drug cartels.
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