HUNKY FIREMEN SPREAD WORD ON DANGERS OF CRYSTAL USE ON FRIDAY FEB 4

Crystal Use Among Gay and Bisexual Men a Community-Wide Emergency

Media Contact: Jason Riggs, cell 415-871-7351 or Email.
WHO: STOP AIDS Project and the San Francisco Fire Department
WHEN: Friday, February 4 from 9:30pm-11:30pm
WHERE: 18th and Castro Street, outdoors in the heart of the gay community.
WHAT: A San Francisco Fire Department Emergency Medical Vehicle with lights on parked at 18th and Castro and several STOP AIDS Project volunteers dressed as hunky firemen. The hunky firemen will help spread the word to passersby that crystal use among gay and bisexual men has become a community-wide emergency that puts them at risk for addiction and giving or getting HIV.

WHY: "Almost every gay man in San Francisco knows someone who has lost a friend, roommate, or partner because of crystal use," said Jason Riggs, Communications Director of the STOP AIDS Project. "Crystal use is a community-wide emergency that is driving new HIV infections and eroding trust and friendships, the very foundations of community."

Crystal (aka "speed") use among gay and bisexual men has become epidemic in San Francisco and across the country. Thirty percent of new HIV infections among gay and bisexual men in San Francisco are linked to crystal use, making the drug one of the single largest co-factors for contracting HIV. Gay and bisexual men who use speed are 300-400% more likely to get HIV than those who don't. Twenty percent of gay and bisexual men have used speed in the last 6 months and half of gay men at late night venues have reported using speed. Crystal is more addictive than heroin and, when used during sex, causes loss of sexual inhibition brought on by decreased mental capacity helping to drive new HIV and STD infections.

Crystal related emergency department visits in San Francisco doubled between1998 and 2002, the last year data are available though the Drug Abuse Warning Network. Current estimates suggest a growing problem.
"We estimate that five to twenty emergency department visits per week are patients with a history of crystal use," said Alan Gelb, MD, Chief of the Emergency Department at San Francisco General Hospital.
Approximately 3% of all "911" emergency calls every month are due to crystal related issues including heart palpitations, delirium, and violent behavior, according to estimates by the San Francisco Fire Department's Emergency Management Services. 

"Crystal is the 'crack' of the gay community and is highly addictive," said Riggs. "Whether someone is addicted or not they put themselves at extreme risk for HIV and other STDs when they are high."

The outreach event on Friday night is part of an ongoing campaign by STOP AIDS Project dubbed "Are You Up to Speed?" The campaign is designed to reach gay and bisexual men with the facts about crystal use before they fall into addiction by targeting recreational crystal users or those who are considering using for the first time. 

Officer Jane Warner, who regularly patrols the Castro neighborhood, has witnessed first-hand the damaging effects crystal has had on the gay community, from disruptions in local businesses to individuals experiencing a major downfall in their lives.

"Crystal use in the gay community is a major problem that needs to be addressed," said Warner who estimates that they get crystal related calls five times a week from Castro businesses and residents. "We see a lot of problems with people that have been on crystal for a while, they are going crazy on the street, throwing things and threatening people."

"Drug use and addiction, ultimately, is not something that should rest solely on the shoulders of law enforcement," added Warner. "Responding to the continuing use of speed in the community needs to be a community-wide effort. So many people think that addiction wont happen to them, but I see it happen to people all the time".

Riggs agrees, "Our goal in this campaign is to rebrand crystal from a party drug to a drug highly associated with new HIV infections and one that ultimately has little place in a healthy community."