The understanding that at initiation methamphetamine was not solely used as a sexual enhancement for members of this community may enable health workers to more accurately target potential users when putting forth intervention efforts. At initiation (1) Methamphetamine was used in a social, non-sexual setting for a majority of the participants (2) participants expressed limited knowledge of methamphetamine and (3) many participants used cocaine as a basis for comparison when describing various effects of the drug. The data for this paper are derived from the qualitative interviews of 54 gay and bisexual male methamphetamine users. Participants were recruited as part of a larger study which used time-space sampling to enroll club-going young adults who indicated recent club-drug (ecstasy, ketamine, GHB, methamphetamine, cocaine, and/or LSD) use. In order to better understand initiation into methamphetamine use among gay and bisexual men, qualitative analyses were performed on a sample of young gay and bisexual men (ages 18-29) in New York City.
Research over the past ten years has suggested that methamphetamine use has become a significant problem and is associated with risky sexual behaviors among gay and bisexual men.