7 ms·
What’s weird about this article is that it fails to mention one of the primary USA cultural reasons — perhaps the primary reason — for the increased cultural po
by dondawest 8y ago
What’s weird about this article is that it fails to mention one of the primary USA cultural reasons — perhaps the primary reason — for the increased cultural popularity of this drug: the increased popularity of chemsex.
I was a pretty low-functioning meth addict for years, both overseas and in America. Disgusting cuts on my hands and feet that would never heal, lost a tooth, the whole nine yards.
What fascinated me about doing meth in the Bay Area was the police force’s reluctance to harass, question, or even stop me when I was clearly a fucking tweaked-out tweaker. Eventually I realized that I was protected by the phenomenon of chemsex: cops didn’t stop me because they thought I was gay and thus were scared I would call them out for homophobia. (And they were right, lol)
Doing meth in the Bay is so much easier than other places it’s kinda disgusting TBH. there’s a line between tolerating a drug and enabling drug use and the SFPD definitely crosses over that line into the enabling department.
- tomcam 8y agoWow, I’d love to chat with you. Amazing story. Could you check my profile and reach out?
- dondawest 8y agoJust did !
- Johnny555 8y agoI don't understand how the prevalence of "chemsex" (I'd never heard of it before and had to look it up) gives you any protection from the police. I'd assume that the reason they didn't stop you was because you weren't the first drugged out person they'd seen today and they don't have time to stop them all (and in the Bay Area, they'd likely be back on the street in a day). Unless you were harassing or assaulting other people or committing some other illegal act, I'd be surprised if the police bothered to stop every suspected drug user. It seems surprising that the police would be afraid to stop a gay man just because they think he's gay.
- dondawest 8y agoWhen you’re on meth you can read minds so I’m positive I’m right in my mind reading! Lol. In all seriousness though, I’m quite sure my appearance as a homosexual protected me from police harassment. I think to them, stopping and harassing me would have felt like “picking on the gay kid” so they just didn’t do it. (This was NOT the case in other countries and cities that are less sensitive to lgbt rights than the bay). Also a highly relevant factor in my not getting harassed by Bay Area cops: i’m white. >It seems surprising that the police would be afraid to stop a gay man just because they think he's gay. It’s not solely because they correctly judged me to be gay, it’s because of a confluence of cultural factors. When you see a non-homeless gay tweaker in the Bay Area, you can be almost assured that his addiction has to do with chemsex, and thus stopping him would just be an uncomfortable conversation for the police because they’re in constant hetero-bravado mode and they realllllly don’t want to stop and ask a gay dude about meth because that conversation will instantly turn to chemsex which is a conversation they REALLY REALLY REALLY DON’T WANNA HAVE, lmao
- manigandham 8y agoCops are not afraid of gay people, that's a ridiculous notion. They don't stop every drug user on the streets because they have better things to do unless you're about to hurt someone. The time and effort spent booking and releasing isn't worth it, especially with a "tweaked-out tweaker" with "disgusting cuts on your hands and feet". If you're free and clear now then maybe you should go for a ride-along so you can see exactly what they encounter daily and how they do their job.
- dondawest 8y agoI’ve been on ride-alongs. I also didn’t say cops were afraid of gay people. I said Bay Area cops are afraid of appearing homophobic.
- manigandham 8y agoI'll rephrase: cops aren't afraid of (potentially) gay people, who might call them homophobic. Why would they care what some meth user on the street says? I think you're overestimating the risk and impact you posed to the cops and the city.
- dondawest 8y agoI posed zero risk or impact. How is zero an overestimation?
- sk0g 8y ago"I posed no risk to other people, the police obviously didn't stop me because of my sexuality." Being on drugs is not illegal, doing (or having) drugs is. Do you think the police want you scared of calling for help, in case you need it? Scared of calling ambulances in case they have to hand you over to the police? What a thoroughly ridiculous notion you are VERY set on.
- JumpCrisscross 8y ago
- caymanjim 8y agoI don't buy that this is the primary reason. While there's a connection between meth and sex, I think you're extrapolating from a very specific San Francisco experience. Most people doing meth are not gay, do not live in cities, and aren't even having much sex.
- dondawest 8y agoI would agree but I’ve read so many articles on the “phenemomenon of chemsex gripping the gay community nationwide” that I believe the trend goes beyond mere extrapolation from my Bay Area experience.