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Is There Such a Thing as a Meth User Profile?
Most methamphetamine users report that they began taking the drug as an experiment. They wanted to have more energy and experience a powerful high. In the late 1990s, meth use in the United States was highest among white, male, blue-collar workers on the West Coast. As of 2005, the user profile had broadened to include diverse groups in all regions of the country. The authors of the 2005 study "The Meth Epidemic in America" noted that more high school- and college-aged students were taking the drug. Use had grown enormously among individuals in their twenties and thirties. There is no longer a definition of a "typical meth user." Use is high among the employed and the unemployed, white-collar workers and blue-collar workers, men and women. Though typically associated with whites, use is spreading among Hispanics and Native Americans as well.
Other groups showing increased use of methamphetamine include homeless and runaway youths, individuals who attend RAVES, and homosexuals. The gay community is at special risk because of the "party and play" trend developing in homosexual circles. As reported by David J.L. Jefferson in a February 2005 Newsweek article, "party and play" refers to using methamphetamine and then having sex—often without a condom. There is growing concern that this type of abuse will lead to an increase in the spread of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Jefferson noted that when comparing nonusers and users of methamphetamine, the users were twice as likely to engage in unprotected sex and four times as likely to be HIV positive (carrying the human immunodeficiency virus, which can lead to AIDS).
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