Another Way to Combat Crystal Meth Article

Articles - Feature Articles:

Another Way to Combat Crystal Meth
Jul 04, 2007 | By: Ken Furtado

Tweaker.org

Keep a clean nose, watch the plain clothes. You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. - Bob Dylan, Subterranean Homesick Blues

Bob Dylan's 1965 anthem "Subterranean Homesick Blues" is only partly about drugs, but it's not likely he was writing about crystal meth. In the 60s, Methedrine was the trademarked name used by Burroughs-Wellcome for its own brand of methamphetamine, which came in tablet form and was easily obtainable when I was in college. That was then ...

One probably cannot overestimate the devastation that crystal has wreaked on the gay community. Response has been slow, but once again the community is showing the world - as it did at the onset of the AIDS crisis - that it is willing to step up and take care of its own. Here's a program that takes a unique approach.

Tweaker.org is a Web site and a program of the San Francisco Stop AIDS Project. After an outreach conducted in 1997, the Stop AIDS Project first identified crystal meth use as an issue affecting HIV transmission among gay men. That's how Tweaker.org came into being, first with a social marketing campaign and later with a Web site.

The site lasted for two years, being discontinued when funding lapsed in 1999. Three years later, with new funding and renewed purpose, the site was re-launched. Its non-confrontational approach is stated simply on the front page of the site:

"We recognize that people use crystal meth. We're not here to condemn it. We're not here to promote it. Instead, we offer: Information. Support. Resources. To help gay men better understand crystal and how it affects physical, mental and sexual health."

The newest campaign may be the hottest and most successful yet: porn stars are enlisted to share the news that sex can be hot without crystal, and they proclaim the news from posters and Web banners.

Tweaker.org Health Educator Ian Schneider says, "We've received a bigger response to this campaign than any other we've ever done. Most guys have been really excited about it, saying they appreciate the non-confrontational and sex-positive message."

Asked what the inspiration was behind this new campaign, Schneider replied, "A guy who volunteers with tweaker.org wanted to tackle the myth that you can only have hot sex if you're on crystal. He came up with the idea of using sex idols to remind guys of the opposite - that you don't have to use crystal to have mind-blowing sex. It's a perfect message to be coming from us: we're not telling guys not to use crystal, but rather reminding them that they don't have to. That's the sort of harm reduction message tweaker.org is known for."

Porn stars who have signed on to support and promote the program include Derrick Hanson, Jay Black, Michael Brandon, Mario Cruz, Parker Williams, Matt Cole, Tom Lazzari and Matthew Rush. If you are a porn star and want to help out, go to the Web site and enlist.

No official screening process is involved. the massage is about harm reduction message. Being in the campaign isn't about using or not using crystal, but rather the belief that you CAN have hot sex without it.

Schneider says, "We just wanted sexy guys to say that yes, it's possible to have hot sex without crystal, and that they're able to do it." The next phase of the media campaign is going to be 3x5-inch palm cards with each porn star on his own card with a 'hot sex without crystal tip' on the back. Word is that "they're going to be fab."

Tweaker.org is funded by the San Francisco Dept. of Public Health, which means that its focus is on guys in San Francisco. They get e-mails from people all over the world asking for referrals in their city, and while they always try to help, at this point they do not maintain a nationwide resource and referral database.
"It's definitely a possibility in the future, though," according to Schneider.

The Web site is packed with information and resources, many of which are valuable regardless of where you may live. And if you do live in San Francisco, there are many live events you can attend.