In the gay community, the practice is referred to as "Party and Play" or "P 'n' P."
On a chat room accessed through gay.com, one man refers to himself as "P 'n' P friendly." Another visitor to the site says he "likes to 'P and P.' " The phrase refers to a person's willingness to use methamphetamine and engage in sex, a growing practice that has gay community health experts and the Utah AIDS Foundation worrying about increases in high-risk behavior and sexually transmitted diseases, particularly HIV.
"It is a big factor," said Chad Hermandorfer, 33, who worked for four years as an organizer of the Intermountain Gay Men's Health Summit. "When people get high or use drugs and alcohol, they tend not to be as safe. They do not use wise judgment. They are more promiscuous."
"It is a concern," said Stan Penfold, executive director of the Utah AIDS Foundation. "We don't know how extensive it is, but we know it's happening."
The foundation has created a Web site, www.utahtweaker.com, to provide education and referral resources to men who have sex with men and are former, current or future meth users.
As in other social groups, methamphetamine or "crystal" use has exploded in the gay population. It is the most frequently used drug while having heterosexual or homosexual sex in the state, according to the Utah Bureau of Communicable Disease Control.
In 2004, male-to-male sexual contact was the most common means of HIV/AIDS exposure, according to the bureau.
Injection of drugs by gay men was the second-highest means of exposure. They account for 11 percent of the 751 current HIV cases in Utah, the majority likely doing meth.
The Utah AIDS Foundation will host a substance abuse panel 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Salt Lake City Public Library. Panel members will share personal experiences about how drugs affect their lives.
"P and P" is part of a national drug and party culture in a portion of gay communities.
Recent research shows meth use is associated with high-risk behavior and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV, among gay men in San Francisco. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study of 388 men found 16 percent used the drug the last time they had sex. Another study showed meth users were twice as likely as non-users to be HIV-infected.
And throughout the nation, health experts concerned about the gay community have scrambled to address the issue through ad campaigns and Web sites.
"Anecdotally we know that the problem is very widespread and that it is leading to increasing in HIV infections," said Thomas Hughes, HIV prevention specialist at the Utah AIDS Foundation.
Meth use contributes several complicating and dangerous factors for people in the gay community, he said.
Meth users lose all inhibitions. They engage in sex for longer periods of time while high, which creates a considerable problem where disease is concerned, Hughes said.
"There are more fluids being exchanged and there is a higher likelihood that sexually transmitted diseases — including HIV — will be transmitted."
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