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Meth can lead to unsafe sex, STDs and burnout

tennessean.com, March 2, 2014

The Internet is the meet-up place for people who mix sex with methamphetamine either because they are trying to score the drug or chase a thrill that’s long gone.

The personal ads on Craigs-list Nashville use code words such as “parTy” to introduce people to meth through sex. The capital T in the middle of the word is a tipoff that someone is looking for a casual encounter while using “tina,” one of the many urban slang terms for meth. Another is “pnp,” which stands for “party and play.”

The come-ons begin with an offer of a line or a toke. The burnouts are inevitable.

While methamphetamine may seem like an aphrodisiac at first, causing people to lower their inhibitions, it eventually shuts down the pleasure sensors in the brain. By the time burnout occurs, a meth user may have contracted a sexually transmitted disease. The drug increases the likelihood of infections, according to multiple medical studies.

Women who used meth were 48 percent more likely to have tested positive for gonorrhea and chlamydia than those who did not, according to one study published last year in a journal called Sexually Transmitted Diseases. It analyzed data on patients who visited clinics in Los Angeles County over a two-year period.

The links between use of the drug and HIV as well as syphilis have been well documented in males, especially men who have sex with men.

While most of these studies focused on urban areas, people living in rural areas also are putting themselves at risk.