the night after taking Ice:
“I see Ice users every night after midnight. You can recognize them right away
– their facial muscles are [twitchy], and their breath stinks – it’s different from
tobacco breath. I don’t [skate]. If they want to go out for more, that’s fine, but
they have to pay more, at least 100 yuan (USD 16) (the local price for a street
sex worker is 50 RMB (USD 8)), because I know they’re skating.”208
The lasting effects of meth mean much longer service times. Wang Long has had
several clients on meth, and the length of time involved has left him with lingering fears:
“One time it was around 1:00 am, and we started at 3:00 and kept going until 4:00 the
next afternoon.”209
Extended periods of sexual activity means that meth use often involves multiple sexual
partners. Zhou Xinyu once serviced a client along with three other people: “When I
went, there were three others, one woman and two men. We took turns with him [the
client]. It makes him last forever. You have to spend at least 10 to 20 hours with him,
and he still won’t ejaculate.”210
While having the effect of promoting sexual activeness, taking Ice may also lead to
erectile dysfunction. Akai says: “He [the client] played with that and couldn’t get hard.
It was exhausting. Sometimes we’d be at it for a long time and not manage it.”211 This
makes condom use a problem. Keyi says: “When a person gets to that point, he’s not
thinking clearly. Even if he knows he has to wear a condom, if he’s not hard, how can
he do it?”212
The use of stimulants and drugs can lead to unprotected sex and thus increase the
risk of HIV and STD infection. 213A study of 625 MSM in Shanghai found that the odds
of HIV infection among popper using MSM were 4.1 times higher than the odds of
nonpopper using MSM participants, and the odds of HIV infection among meth using
MSM were 1.8 times higher than the odds of non-meth using MSM participants.214
Another survey of 386 MSM in South Africa found that the use of meth and Rush
poppers significantly increased the likelihood of unsafe sex (by multiples of 2.75 and
208 Interview with Zhang Liang, Shanghai, May 18, 2014.
209 Interview with Wang Long, Shanghai, April 29, 2014.
210 Interview with Zhou Xinyu, Shanghai, March 4, 2014.
211 Interview with Akai, Shanghai, June 15, 2014.
212 Interview with Keyi, Beijing, April 4, 2014.
213 M.W.Plankey, D.G. Ostrow, R. Stall et al., “The relationship between methamphetamine and popper use and risk of HIV seroconversion in the
multicenter AIDS cohort study”, Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, vol. 45, no. 1 (2007):85-92.
214 Jun Jie Xu, et al. “Recreational Drug Use among Chinese Men who Have Sex with Men: A Risky Combination with Unprotected Sex for Acquiring HIV
Infection.” BioMed Research International, Volume 2014, Article ID 725361.
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