Crystal Meth Anonymous

Crystal Meth Anonymous (CMA) is a California‑based non‑profit, public‑benefit corporation working as a twelve‑step program of recovered and recovering crystal meth addicts. Participants in local groups meet in order to help others recover from methamphetamine addiction. CMA advocates complete abstinence from methamphetamine, alcohol, inhalants, and all other psychoactive drugs not taken as prescribed.

History and demographics

CMA was founded on September 16, 1994 in West Hollywood, California. The first group held its first meeting at the West Hollywood Alcohol and Drug Center.[1] As of 2015, CMA had a presence in over 100 metropolitan areas of the United States, as well as parts of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and Iran.[2] The first CMA World Service Conference was held in Park City, Utah in October 2008, during which the CMA Charter was adopted.[1] Most members use the basic text of Alcoholics Anonymous's Big Book as a guide for recovery. At the first General Service Conference, the delegates adopted that

The Fellowship of Crystal Meth Anonymous works a Twelve Step program of recovery. We have not felt the need to elaborate in great detail a specific CMA approach to the Twelve Steps: too many other excellent outlines already exist for following these spiritual principles. But our experience has shown that without the Steps we could not stay sober.[1]

In 2002, the US Department of Health and Human Services estimated 12 million people, age 12 and over, had used methamphetamine – 600,000 of which were estimated to be current users – with a growth rate of approximately 300,000 new users per year.[3] In 2005, a Los Angeles clinic estimated that one out of three gay or bisexual HIV‑positive men admitted to using methamphetamine.[3][4] Methamphetamine lowers a user's inhibitions, increasing the likelihood of engaging in unprotected sex and sharing needles.[5] In large metropolitan areas, such as Atlanta, Chicago, Miami and Washington, DC, many CMA groups are designated as gay, or are de facto gay.[6] As CMA's popularity grew, the growth of meeting spread to large non–gay communities such as those in Phoenix and Minneapolis.

Effectiveness

A self‑selected study limited to men who had sex with other men, used meth, and attended CMA, showed that, after three months of participation in CMA, participants reported their number of sexual partners had fell from seven to less than one, and self‑reports of unprotected anal intercourse when using methamphetamine fell by two‑thirds.[7] In a six‑month follow‑up, 20% had used it again once and 64% had remained abstinent.[6][8]

Literature

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "The CMA History of Service". Retrieved 2015-07-09.
  2. ↑ "The CMA Meeting Directory". Retrieved 2015-07-09.
  3. 1 2 Lee, Steven (Spring 2006). "Crystal Methamphetamine: Current Issues in Addiction and Treatment" (PDF). Paradigm. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-12-27. Retrieved 2015-07-09.
  4. ↑ Worth, Heather; Rawstorne, Patrick (2005). "Crystallizing the HIV epidemic: methamphetamine, unsafe sex, and gay diseases of the will". Archives of Sexual Behavior 34 (5): 483–486. doi:10.1007/s10508-005-6274-9. ISSN 1573-2800. PMID 16211470.
  5. ↑ Sanello, Frank (2005). Tweakers: How Crystal Meth Is Ravaging Gay America. Los Angeles: Alyson Publishing. ISBN 1-55583-884-7. OCLC 56608054.
  6. 1 2 Lyons, Thomas M.; Chandra, Gopika; Goldstein, Jerome (2006). "APHA 134th Annual Meeting and Exposition, Crystal Meth Anonymous: Peer support for drug‑related HIV risk reduction". Conference Proceedings: APHA 134th Annual Meeting and Exposition. Public Health and Human Rights. Boston. Archived from the original on 2015-07-10. Retrieved 2015-07-14.
  7. ↑ Lyons, Thomas; Chandra, Gopika; Goldstein, Jerome (2006). "Stimulant Use and HIV Risk Behavior: The Influence of Peer Support Group Participation". AIDS Education and Prevention 18 (5): 461–473. doi:10.1521/aeap.2006.18.5.461. ISSN 0899-9546. PMID 17067256. With entry into the program, mean reported sexual partners fell from around seven to one per month and the proportion having unprotected anal intercourse declined from 70% to 24%.
  8. ↑ Lyons, Thomas; Chandra, Gopika; Goldstein, Jerome (2006). "Stimulant Use and HIV Risk Behavior: The Influence of Peer Support Group Participation". AIDS Education and Prevention 18 (5): 461–473. doi:10.1521/aeap.2006.18.5.461. ISSN 0899-9546. PMID 17067256.

Further reading

External links

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