City says meth use is at 'high plateau'

by Matthew S. Bajko

in the Bay Area Reporter

Despite some data suggesting that methamphetamine use among gay men has declined in recent years, a city panel tasked with addressing what health officials consider "the other epidemic" after HIV maintains that usage remains at a "high plateau."

The Mayor's Task Force on Crystal Methamphetamine came to the conclusion in an April consensus report. Little noticed at the time it was issued, the report concluded that 13 percent of the city's estimated 54,000 gay and bisexual male residents use meth. Out of 5,524 gay and bi men who inject drugs, the task force concluded that 54 percent are speed users.

Taken together, the numbers suggest that 10,003 gay men in San Francisco are meth users. Overall, the task force estimated that 46,000 residents use meth. The task force came to its decision after reviewing data from a dozen studies, and usage could range anywhere from once a day to once in the past year.

"With most drugs you are looking at single digit percentages, not 13 percent," said task force member Michael Siever, Ph.D., manager of the Stonewall Project, a meth-focused substance use program that recently merged with the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. "Crystal has been and continues to be a major issue in San Francisco's gay community. It still remains high, no matter how you slice the numbers."

The task force estimated that only 3 percent of gay meth users use the drug on a daily basis, while 73 percent use it once a month or less. Seventeen percent of gay and bi who inject meth do so at least once a day, while 21 percent inject meth once a month or less, concluded the task force.

"The conclusion of the consensus meeting was that we are at a high plateau and have been for a while. There are some fluctuations but there is still a very high rate of use even with whatever recent dips there have been," said Siever. "A high plateau means to me meth use has been very significant among gay men and has been for some time."

Siever noted though that even if roughly 20 percent of the city's men who have sex with men use meth, 80 percent do not.

"The reality is the vast majority of folks don't do drugs, period," said Siever.

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