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SOUTHERN VOICE • DECEMBER 29/1994
tyoa'il Sam
’'yfco.viety- • •
V6 Engine, AC, AM/FM cass, pwr
wind, pwr locks, cruise, pwr mirrors,
60mo./60,000mi. roadside assistance
It’s s Pugmire!!
1995
ISUZU
RODEO
$ f9,399
+ tax, tag, title
Pwr wind, pwr locks,
cruise, bright
mirrors, bright grill,
4 wheel drive, alloy
wheels, pwr mirrors,
60mo./60,000mi.
roadside assistance
1994 TROOPER $ 339
per month
FOR ONLY 30
SHORT MONTHS
30 mo. closed end lease with approved credit. Purchase option $14,963. Total pymnts $10,170. $1,299 down cash or trade
equity, 1st pymt, $400 refundable security deposit, $41 tag, title, GA warranty rights fee due at lease inception. 15* per mile
penalty over 30,000 mi. Add tax to payment only.
AUTOMATIC
1994
ISUZU
AMIGO
Removable canvas top,
rear ABS, 60mo 760,000m i.,
roadside asst.
$ f2,999
# + tax, tag, title
PUGMIRE fid
m » ■ I
1865 COBB PKWY, MARIETTA 952-2261,1-800-441-6753
houseworks
New & Used Furniture
We & Sell
THE SIGN OF RENOVATION
1055 Ponce de Leon Ave (next to plaza drugs)
SawHorse
522-4542
IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD
Drug abuse
5 s - Continued from Page 1
bar and I had to use drugs."
The last semester of his senior year in
college, Jason checked into a rehabilitation
center and later, a 12-step program. He
stopped using and felt that he had com
pletely recovered.
Then, he moved to Atlanta.
I ask Jason to estimate the percentage of
gay men who regularly use illegal sub
stances in Atlanta. "I'd say 60% in the city
overall, and 80% in the clubs use drugs or
alcohol to excess. I moved to Atlanta, and I
stopped going to the 12-step program. I fell
into drug use again, and it was just as bad,
if not worse. So I went back into the pro
gram."
Apparently, I had seen Jason out one of
the last nights he had used drugs. "A lot of
people go in and out of programs thinking
they can use again, because it's a fucking
disease is what it is," says Jason.
He currently uses no substances, and I
ask him if he plans to start going out to the
bars again now that he is in recovery. "I pray
not, man," he laughs, "because that's how
it started when I got to Atlanta. I started out
New Year's Eve [1993] just drinking
champagne...but what happens is you just
go right into it—it starts out with one thing
but it comes back eventually. It never goes
away."
• • •
I'm thinking about what Jason said
about drugs and unsafe sax as I telephone
my cousin Zachary Sank, a gay Atlanta psy
chotherapist who deals primarily with HIV-
infected people. Zachary agrees with Jason's
assessment. "I think [gay men] get drunk in
the attempt to make the social meeting
easier, to make it more emotionally comfort
able, and then they end up being sexual and
they're drunk enough to [think], 'oh, well,
I'll use a condom the next time." I ask
Zachary if he has had HIV-infected patients
who attribute their infection to the influence
of drugs or alcohol. "Yes," he says, without
hesitation.
"Well, what do you see as the bigger
risk," I ask, "do you see the unprotected sex
as being more of a problem for gay people
using drugs than addiction?" Zachary
pauses and then responds, "It's very hard
to make that comparison. What you're talk
ing about is an addiction which can be re
versed. When you talk about HIV or AIDS
you're talking about something that is
irreversible...and it almost always ulti
mately leads to death. So it's hard to equate
the two."
Good answer to a stupid question, I re
alize.
A better one is this: so far I've only heard
about substance abuse in relation to gay
men. Does Zachary feel that drug use is
evenly distributed among gay men and les
bians?
"I'm afraid 1 may be biased because I
treat many more men than women," he says,
"but try to think about how many gay
women bars there are compared to gay men
bars. There's a very great disparity in the
numbers. So I have a feeling that women
have the opportunity to meet and socialize
with other women without it being in the
context of an alcohol-serving situation."
• • •
Lesbian therapist Marilyn Hughes is less
optimistic. "I'd say that in the lesbian com
munity substance abuse is a prevalent prob
lem. I think about 10% of the lesbian popu
lation is addicted, primarily to alcohol, and
then cocaine would be next," says Hughes,
a recovering alcoholic and the director of
Common Steps, a program for lesbian and
gay substance abusers at Decatur Hospital.
I mention to Hughes that I've heard a
lot about Ecstasy and crystal meth usage in
the gay male community. "We have not seen
any Ecstasy in the lesbian population that
we've treated," she says, "but we have seen
crystal meth, and I think there may be a cor
relation in the lesbian community between
crystal meth and eating disorders. Crystal
meth suppresses the appetite, and there are
women who want to lose weight and they
use it...and get addicted."
I ask Hughes what the warning signs are
for a serious drug problem. "If you can't
stop using," she says, "if it becomes some
thing you're preoccupied with.. .if you find
yourself looking forward to using... those
are real subtle clues that some people aren't
aware of. You know some people will say,'
I only use cocaine on the weekends, so I'm
not a cocaine addict.' I differ with that. Even
Continued on Page 18