By Spencer Cox in POZ
In 1997, when Anthony Snyder was 31, he tested positive for HIV and left the air force. Snyder’s next move: He started snorting crystal methamphetamine, a highly addictive form of speed. By 2000, he was smoking daily. Crystal, Snyder says, helped him escape his issues with being gay and positive—and from “feeling like I was going to die soon” from HIV. Until 2001, that is, when he’d begun shooting up (crystal is most commonly snorted or smoked, although injecting, or “slamming,” is becoming popular too), become homeless, then got arrested for dealing—and decided it was time to quit. 
Crystal (aka meth, ice, T or Tina) is not just a gay phenomenon, though urban gay communities have been hit especially hard. Crystal has hooked a wide cross section—from hard-core junkies to overachieving students and desperate housewives. Nearly 12 million Americans have tried the drug, according to the 2004 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. However, research at the intersection of HIV and crystal has focused on gay men.
As crystal meth use has swept the country over the past 20 years, the media have repeatedly linked its euphoric and energy-boosting effects to lowered inhibitions and increased HIV risk. But studies show that many users, especially gay male users, already have the virus. So how does the drug affect a positive person like Snyder?
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