Bay Windows - April 21, 2005
J.S. Hall

Studies have shown that gay people tend to smoke, drink and do drugs more than most people, but considering the stress and prejudice that many of us have to deal with on a variety of levels, perhaps this isn't very surprising. After all, these substances take us away from reality for a time, and some people can keep their usage in check. However, even the most iron-willed have confessed to powerlessness in the grip of crystal methamphetamine, the latest dirty little secret to sweep the gay community. As crystal use has soared within gay circles (and the rest of society at large), journalist Frank Sanello investigates in Tweakers how this "party drug" is quickly becoming the death of the party and many a partier.

It's not surprising to see why crystal has become so popular in gay culture. For starters, it's inexpensive compared to most drugs. When taken for the first time, it produces a dose of dopamine (a "neurochemical that creates...positive feelings") "equivalent to 600 times the normal amount of dopamine the brain releases in response to pleasurable events." Crystal shuts down the portions of the brain that regulate hunger, thirst and sleep, relaxes one's erotic inhibitions, and causes noticeable weight loss with repeated use.

Unfortunately, that initial high interferes with the brain's ability to create natural endorphins, leaving the user increasingly dependent on crystal to feel pleasure. Other side effects include paranoia, hallucinations, calcium depletion (leading to brittle bones and tooth loss) and permanent brain damage. Long-term users can expect consequences from malnutrition, lack of sleep and repeated exposure to the many toxic substances used to create methamphetamine.

Over the course of Tweakers, Sanello paints a bleak picture for our future if crystal meth use is not curbed. Users frequently engage in unsafe sex, resulting in new cases of AIDS infections, and the drug's addictive qualities discriminate against no one; doctors, actors and businessmen share their tales of woe, as do regular folks and down-and-outs. Rehab for crystal users has a dismal six to seven percent success rate because the drug robs addicts of the ability to feel pleasure as they go through withdrawal. All in all, anyone unfamiliar with crystal or thinking about trying it will find this book an unpleasant eye-opener.

Through interviews with users, addicts, counselors and crystal experts, conducted in person and online, Sanello demonstrates that crystal's negatives far outweigh any initial positives. Tweakers and survivors' stories of their experiences offer even more compelling arguments for not using the drug in the first place. Rather than taking a "Drugs are bad, mmkay?" approach like South Park's counselor Mr. Mackey (or Nancy Reagan, for that matter), Sanello's interviewees offer graphic, concrete, first-hand accounts of crystal's seductive power and the depths that it will drive users to in a hopeless quest to re-experience an initial high that can never be duplicated.

While Tweakers delivers droves of information about crystal, it does so in a scattershot manner. A widely published author, Sanello retains a journalist's flair for quick, almost staccato chapters that swiftly discuss a topic, and then flit on to the next. Also, certain key facts occasionally get repeated a few chapters later. Perhaps this book was designed for a younger audience, or maybe for crystal users with the attention span of a gnat, but at times the end result can be disconcerting and/or off-putting for readers used to a slower pace and greater in-depth coverage of all angles of an issue.

Best viewed as the book equivalent of "Dangers of Crystal Meth 101," Tweakers succeeds in showing how dangerous crystal methamphetamine is; in illustrating what steps are being taken to curtail its production; and offering resources for those seeking help in quitting or getting treatment for their addiction. Because this is a fairly recent phenomenon that few people have been willing to comment on, Tweakers ought to open the floor for some serious discussion about an ever-increasing threat to our community and the world at large.

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