Meth Addiction Among Gay and Bisexual Men is Treatable

Listmates,

A question came up yesterday on another listserv about treatment for meth addiction -- specifically whether there are Medication Assisted Treatments available. And then this came up today. For meth addiction specifically the answer is no - see report. For the co-morbid psychiatric conditions and general symptoms that may accompany withdrawal/early recovery - yes. It is good to see a positive on treating meth addiction. Thanks Gay and Lesbian Medical Association. The report also speaks to useful therapies.

Don From Join Together GLMA Report Finds Meth Addiction Among Gay and Bisexual Men is Treatable December 7, 2006 Contact: Gay and Lesbian Medical Association (GLMA) 459 Fulton Street, Suite 107 San Francisco, CA 94102 www.glma.org info@glma.org Tel: 415-255-4547 San Francisco, CA - The Gay and Lesbian Medical Association recently released a report that contradicts the widely held perception that addiction to crystal methamphetamine is essentially untreatable, a misunderstanding shared by some health professionals. The release of the report coincides with National Methamphetamine Awareness Day. The report, entitled Breaking the Grip: Treating Crystal Methamphetamine Addiction Among Gay and Bisexual Men, highlights specific treatment strategies identified as useful by clinicians and researchers. The report also identifies a need for more treatment programs tailored to gay and bisexual men, who use methamphetamine at a rate ten times higher than the general population. "We need to get past the myth that crystal meth addiction can't be treated successfully," said GLMA Executive Director Joel Ginsberg. "Certainly there are barriers to successful treatment -- overcoming addiction is difficult, treatment options aren't perfect, and we need more programs tailored for our community. But it's important for people to know that gay and bisexual men addicted to crystal meth can get better and that they are not a lost cause." GLMA's team collected data for the Breaking the Grip project by examining the peer-reviewed, scholarly literature on the subject and by conducting eight focus groups in five cities where crystal meth use is thought to be widespread. Focus group participants included physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists and therapists working in the field of addiction, researchers in the fields of epidemiology, pharmacology and clinical psychology, and health policy experts. The full report is available at www.glma.org/breakingthegrip.