Campaigns Focus on Dark Side of Speed Use
Bay Area Reporter, October 2004

 San Francisco Department of Public Health officials have initiated a new campaign to change how gay men view crystal methamphetamine and inform them of its dangers. One in three gay and bisexual men recently testing HIV-positive had used crystal in the last six months, according to city STD clinic data.  

 "Crystal Mess" ads depict speed's negative effects, including being impotent, engaging in unsafe sex, and acquiring an STD. The campaign, created pro-bono by Templin Brink Design, includes billboards in the Castro and its transit station, with taglines reading, "Addiction is no party" and "Crystal plays more tricks than you can." A Web site, www.crystalmess.net, points crystal users toward helpful resources.

 "What we know in various surveys is 12 percent of folks report using crystal," said Steven Tierney, SFDPH's director of HIV prevention. "We want people to talk about it, and if they need help, to know where to go to get it." Tierney said his section is spending $70,000 to place ads and run the Web site.

 The city also launched PROP (Positive Reinforcement Opportunity Program), a collaborative community organization effort to help recovering speed addicts avoid relapse. Participants are referred to service agencies and given incentives the longer they remain clear of crystal.

 A separate Stop AIDS campaign asks men to "do the math: if 1 in 5 gay and bi men use speed and as many as 3 in 10 men who test HIV-positive have used speed recently… the odds are pretty high." "Crystal has been branded as a party drug. We want to brand it as a drug highly associated with HIV transmission," said Jason Riggs, spokesperson for Stop AIDS. City and Stop AIDS officials said many crystal users were disengaging from whatever was their community and turning instead to the Internet. Stop AIDS plans to expand its outreach in early January.