Meth Is HIV Hazard Among Straight Men

Risky sexual behavior under the influence of methamphetamine -- an HIV hazard often spotted in surveys of gay men -- is also occurring among meth-using heterosexuals in Northern California, according to a new state study.
Researchers in five counties found that straight men who reported recent methamphetamine use were much more likely to have casual or anonymous sex, anal sex and sex for money or drugs with female partners than those who did not use the addictive stimulant.
Results of the study, funded by the California Office of AIDS, were published Thursday in MMWR, the weekly bulletin of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"We've known it was a problem among men who have sex with men, but we were surprised to see a similar problem in heterosexual men living in low-income areas,'' said Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, director of STD Prevention and Control for the San Francisco Department of Public Health.
"These are behaviors that can lead to sexually transmitted diseases. If you can reduce meth use, you can reduce STDs,'' he said.
Researchers spent two years interviewing men in low-income neighborhoods of five Northern California counties -- San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo and San Joaquin. Six percent of the 1,000 participants admitted using the drug within the past six months -- half the rate found in national surveys of gay men.
Among the differences found between heterosexual methamphetamine users and those who did not use it:
-- 30 percent had anal sex with their female partners, compared with 12 percent of non-users.
-- 57 percent had sex with multiple partners, compared with 26 percent of non-users.
-- 16 percent received drugs or money for sex, compared with 4 percent.
"What we've learned about meth, which is different from heroin or crack cocaine, is that it is a powerful stimulant for sexual activity,'' said Klausner.
The implications of the study are that heterosexual men in low-income neighborhoods might benefit from the same HIV-prevention programs linked to methamphetamine-abuse prevention that are used in the gay community. In San Francisco, for example, clients in HIV-prevention programs are quickly referred to methamphetamine-abuse programs, and patients in drug treatment are referred to HIV-prevention programs.
Christopher Krawczyk, a research scientist for the state Office of AIDS and lead author of the report, said the heterosexual data are important because there are national trends showing an increase in heterosexual HIV infection rates in low-income communities, and the factors contributing to this must be explored.
"We're showing an association between methamphetamine use and high-risk behaviors among heterosexuals, and the message is that broader attention to this is needed in the research, prevention and treatment communities,'' he said.
from The San Francisco Chronicle