For Immediate Release
Media Contact:
Justin Burke - 213.201.1525
AIDS PROJECT LOS ANGELES TO HOLD FIRST IN SERIES
OF COMMUNITY FORUMS
ON HIV AND CRYSTAL METH
Los Angeles, Calif., April 11, 2006 – AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA) today announced the launch of a series of public forums on crystal meth and HIV, set to begin May 8 with an event titled “Crystal: The Good, the Sad and the Ugly.” Speakers at the first forum include writer and activist Tony Valenzuela, Peter S. Theodore, Ph.D. of the Friends Research Institute, and APLA addictions specialist Lydia Szamraj,LMFT.
A study released last summer by the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center of 19,000 men who have sex with men (MSM) tested there for HIV between 2001 and 2004 showed a near doubling – from 5.8 to 10.3 percent – of reported use of crystal meth. Among MSM who tested HIV-positive, crystal use had nearly tripled – from 11.7 percent to 30.2 percent – in the same time period. That is almost triple the rate of HIV-positive men who said they used crystal in 2001. Among users, 86.6 percent report use of the drug during sex.
“It is clear that what was once perceived as a West Coast phenomenon is now a national emergency,” said Craig E. Thompson, APLA executive director. “This forum will a take a clear-eyed look at the connections and freedoms men may be seeking by using the crystal meth, along with its downsides -- crashing, depression and long-term effects among them.”
APLA’s new series of community forums is part of a comprehensive crystal meth program begun in 2005 that offers trainings for both crystal users and their friends, families and sexual partners. Using a harm reduction model, the trainings provide information about health resources and how to access them. The trainings for concerned friends teach how to identify a crystal problem and provide strategies for coping with one.
“There has been little discussion around why people choose to do the drug and what trade-off they make emotionally or physically for their choices,” said Phil Hendricks, who coordinates APLA’s crystal meth program. “We will look at the void the drug may be filling for too many men, and the cost it exacts on their lives.”
Speaker Tony Valenzuela, an outspoken activist on sexual rights of gay men, is author of The (Bad) Boy Next Door, a solo performance that chronicles a young, HIV-positive gay man’s experiences in pornography and prostitution. Poz magazine calls Valenzuela, who has been featured extensively in print, television, and radio media worldwide, "AIDS activism’s most misunderstood man."
Peter S. Theodore is a clinician who specializes in the fields of substance abuse treatment and HIV prevention. He holds a doctorate in clinical health psychology from the University of Miami and is currently the Project Director for Friends La Brea, a non-profit clinic that offers free methamphetamine abuse treatment for gay and bisexual men within the context of a clinical research project funded by California’s Universitywide AIDS Research Program.
Lydia Szamraj is a member of APLA’s Mental Health Services, where she conducts one-on-one and group counseling on substance abuse and behavior change. An addictive behavior specialist, Lydia is also a licensed marriage and family therapist.
“Crystal: The Good, The Sad and The Ugly” will take place on Monday, May 8 from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM at West Hollywood Park Auditorium. For more information, please call (213) 201-1662.
The program is made possible by funds received from the Office of AIDS Programs and Policy and the State of California, Department of Health Services, Office of AIDS.
AIDS Project Los Angeles, one of the largest non-profit AIDS service organizations in the United States, provides bilingual direct services, prevention education and leadership on HIV/AIDS-related policy and legislation. Founded by four friends in 1982, APLA is a community-based, volunteer-supported organization with local, national and global reach. For more information, visit www.apla.org.
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