Crystal clear: The social determinants of gay men’s use of crystal methamphetamine in Victoria is a spin-off document from a report commissioned by the Department of Human Services into the rates and patterns of use of crystal methamphetamine by gay men in Melbourne.  

The document is being distributed this week to health professionals around Australia and overseas in an attempt to create health programs more equipped to deal with gay men’s health issues in a broad sense and not just in terms of HIV/AIDS, and to highlight the glaring gaps in Australian research. 

According to co-author William Leonard, it merges several streams of existing research including ARCSHC data from sex on premises venues, HIV Futures survey, the Private Lives survey and a questionnaire from 32 Victorian health workers. 

“What we did was look at data from Melbourne and then compared it with data we could get from Australia and then international data to look at what’s common, and what’s unique to Melbourne,” he told bnews. The research revealed that, as a group, gay men’s use of illicit drugs was between eight and 15 per cent, while the national average was 3.2 per cent.

Rates of Melbourne’s gay men using crystal meth have also increased, from six per cent in 2000 to 15.1 per cent in 2006. However, Leonard said most gay men use hard drugs in a controlled manner. 

“Our data suggest that the majority of gay men manage their use of illicit drugs, including crystal meth, with very few problems or disruptions to their lives,” he said. “The research suggests that most gay men who use crystal meth use it very rarely.”  

The research did identify two sub groups of gay men who are high-risk users. The first are those who use drugs for heightened sexual pleasure, and the second are those who use drugs as self-medication to cope with depression or isolation caused by homophobia or issues around coming out. Leonard says those men who habitually use crystal meth for sexual pleasure are part of an existing culture in which illicit drugs play a large role. 

“It’s not crystal meth that’s driving their sexual behaviour, they are from a sub-group of gay men who are part of a sexual culture which has been there for a long time,” he said. Leonard says high drug use is unsurprising within the gay community. “There is a long literature that argues that gay commercial culture has higher rates of illicit drugs generally, such as dance parties or sex on premises venues, where illicit drug use is much more acceptable and normalised.”