Lifting The Lid - Partying And Drugs...

[Christian Taylor]

This week on Same Same we're looking at drugs and partying. How much of the so called 'ice epidemic' is genuine concern and how much is media hype? (http://www.samesame.com.au/support/1029/Crystal_Myth_A_Fraction_Too_Much_Fiction) Last week two news stories came out saying two very different things. One said that gay people were four times as likely to take drugs than straight people. The other said most gay people don't take drugs at all.

What do you think?

[rheiner]

I think what's interesting about these figures that suggest the queer community has a higher rate of drug use is the constant implication that there's a direct causal relationship.

Sure, it might be the case that blue eyed people use more drugs than brown eyed people, but it doesn't mean that it's because they have blue eyes. Specious reasoning at best.

[tarakel]

I think if you attend a few meetings of people in drug and alcohol recovery, you'll constantly hear people talking about "feeling different," while growing up, "not fitting in," and not being "comfortable in their own skin." These are core issues that often underpin addiction, and drugs and alcohol help soften them, or make them go away temporarily. When viewed in that context, it's not a big stretch to suggest that a percentage of gays might be more predisposed to want to "medicate."

[burgjo]

working in the emergency department of a major sydney hospital last year I can definitely confirm that ice became/has become an epidemic - but in saying that - drugs have been a major problem for the past 10 years. 80% of emergency cases on a Friday night - Sunday period are drug and alcohol related. This said though - a very large portion were young 18 - 30 yo straight club goers. There was never any evidence of this being more confined to the gay clubbing crowd.
The choice of drug use is probably more split between gay/straight groups - aggressive drugs such as ice - are not as widely used in gay society where people are out to have fun as opposed to the "male aggression and superiority complex" among a group of straight guys.

[timmeyboy]

Drugs are a part of any culture and scene, no matter what sexuality people are. Things have changed since 10 yers ago when drugs were over priced and strong, now drugs are cheap and weak, they're like the McDonalds on club culture, cheap, quick, and leaves you feeling shitty after!!
As as I said in a previous post, there are some people that do now specifically go out to see how many drugs they can take, they save and save so that they can get as off their faces as possible and not actually care about socialising or dancing or anything else, drugs have become the new binge drinking - well kind of. Why spend all your money on alcohol when you can buy a bag of meth or pills and get as trashed as you like!!!
I do think now that gay people are more wise to drugs than our straight counterparts, we've had drugs in our scene a lot longer, we've been using them more and as such we know what they can do, they are old hat to us now, the problem as with anything lies with the younger generations (straight & gay). they start going out and realise there is this big world out there where vodka has flavours and cider comes in glasses rather than plastic bottles from the bottle-O. They get swepped up in the madness that kind of takes hold of you and sometimes they can't let go of it.

[Cheetah77]

I think the other big problem with the wide use and acceptance of drugs in the scene is that ppl become very blase. I saw a friend OD on G on the Easter weekend and for me having never seen that b4, it was fucking scary! Other friends there were so non plussed about the whole thing, it really shocked me to think that ODing has become "normal" and that ppl don't even find it something to worry about when they see it!

[timmeyboy]

I've seen a mate OD on Ket before, it was also scary, i think if your human enough then you respond to that then it shocks you no matter how many times you see it.
I call it the London Syndrome.
my mate used to work in London and on many monday mornings would see people throw themselves in front of tube trains, she was really shocked when she first saw it but she heard people start to complain about it becuase they would be late for work. When you see something that often, it just becomes the norm, no matter who is involved

[peeter]

It is a sad state of affairs isn't it. I haven't seen much ice or g use in the Adelaide gay scene but that's not to say it isn't around. I think here we all tend to stick to alcohol and the occasional pill.

[timmeyboy]

that sounds like my life at the moment, hahahahaha

I do notice that no one mentions cocaine over here, i guess cuz it's so expensive but it's a big drug in the uk and I don't think Meth is, that's a bit odd isn't it

[taylor-dayne]

i don't think that anyone is disputing that there are a lot of people out there taking drugs - both gay and straight... but it's also about perspective. how many gay people are actually in the scene? i mean, it's a minority, really. and then of those people who are in the scene, how many have drug problems - again, a minority, i reckon.

of course, some people may have different ideas of what constitutes a problem...

it's the actions of a few painting a negative picture of us overall.