July / August 2005 Any Positive Change PLUS! • Updated PEP The State Guidelines • One on One of Harm with Tim’m Reduction West • HIV Drug Today Interactions in 2005 Are you positively aware? TPAN and Positively Aware cordially invite you to THE AWARE AFFAIR T HE 2005 TES T POSITIVE AWARE NETWO RK G ALA Saturday, September 10, 2005 Hyatt Regency Chicago Crystal Ballroom, West Tower 151 East Wacker Drive, Chicago Starring Jane Olivor www.janeolivor.com Honoring Amy Maggio, Kevin Pütz and Gay Chicago Magazine For more information, please call (773) 989-94009-994000 Email [email protected] Or visit awareaffair.tpan.comwareaffaf pan.com SPONSORS A S OF MAY 26, 2005 Abbott Laboratories • BBJ Linens • Chicago in BloomB oomoo • Gilead SSciencescie s Orbitz • Serono Laboratories • Roche • Virginia WolffWolff • X/OXX/ Sustiva Ad Page Here Sustiva P.I. Page Here Table of Contents A model, photograph, or author’s HIV status should not be assumed based on their appearance in Positively Aware. July / August 2005 You can view these (and other stories from previous issues) Volume 16 Number 4 online at http://www.tpan.com Departments Articles 7 Editor’s Note 15 Stopping HIV Infection with PEP “You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out!” U.S. guidelines for using est ablished meds in an unproven way 8 Readers Forum by Enid Vázquez 9 News Briefs 19 True Tales of Prevention by Enid Vázquez A PEP worker sp eaks, plus a PEP diary 11 One-on-One by Enid Vázquez One-on-One with Tim’m West 20 From Condoms to Needles Tim’m West journeys into self-love—for all and Everything in Between Interview by Keith Green Shades of gray with harm reduct ion 49 Th e Buzz by Matt Sharp Minocycline Shown to Have Protection for the Brain against HIV 22 United States of Harm Reduction Th e politics, the money, the health care, the future Results of a preclinical st udy recently published in JAMA by Daniel Raymond by Daniel S. Berger, MD 28 Th e Silver Van 51 Th e Wholistic Picture Talking to people in Chicago’s Blood Alley Taking it on Faith by Jeff Berry God is good, but beware earthly condemnation by Sue Saltmarsh 33 Sex, Drugs and…Harm Reduction Th ings to think about and things you can do 52 Livin’ With It by Laura Jones I had a heart attack Th at only led to problems with the hosp ital st aff 36 Living with(out) Crystal Meth by Tom Setto Addict s were “those” people, not me by Eddie Young 53 Pickett Fences Oh, if only 38 Ordinary Strangers We wouldn’t play with fi re or count our chickens before Mr. Clean, Lady Goodwill, and other folks at TPAN’s they’re hatched needle exchange by Jim Pickett by Derek Worley 54 TPAN Events Calendar 43 HIV Treatment Series HIV Drug Interactions in 55 Programs and Meetings by Glen Pietrandoni, R.Ph. On the Cover: Dan Bigg and Gus Grannan of Chicago Recovery Aliance, along with Tucker and Sammy. photo © Russell McGonagle Distribution of Positively Aware is supported in part through grants from AIDS Foundation of Chicago, GlaxoSmithKline and Abbott Laboratories. tpan.com Positively Aware July/August 2005 5 Save these dates Test Positive Aware Network 5537 North Broadway Chicago, IL 60640 phone: (773) 989–9400 fax: (773) 989–9494 e-mail: [email protected] http://www.tpan.com Editor Jeff Berry Man Alive Associate Editor Chicago’s own gay men’s Enid Vázquez Executive Director health summit brings Rick Bejlovec together a diverse group of Director of Treatment Education men in an uplifting day-long Matt Sharp gathering of workshops and Director of Advertising invited speakers for the Danny Kopelson third year at the downtown Contributing Writers Keith Green, Laura Jones, Carlos A. Perez, Hyatt Regency, Jim Pickett, Sue Saltmarsh, Tom Setto Saturday Nov 5th, 2005 Medical Advisory Board Daniel S. Berger, M.D., Leslie Charles, M.D., Thomas Barrett, M.D., Glen Pietrandoni, R. Ph. Patrick G. Clay, Pharm. D. Art Direction Russell McGonagle © 2005, Test Positive Aware Network, Inc. For reprint permission, contact Keith Green. Six issues mailed bulkrate for $30 donation; mailed free to TPAN members or those unable to contribute. TPAN is an Illinois not-for-profit corporation, providing information and support to anyone con- Women Living cerned with HIV and AIDS issues. A person’s HIV A day dedicated to women status should not be assumed based on his or her article or photograph in Positively Aware, member- living, thriving and affected ship in TPAN, or contributions to this journal. We encourage contribution of articles cover- by HIV, at the Ramada Inn ing medical or personal aspects of HIV/AIDS. We reserve the right to edit or decline submitted Lake Shore in Chicago on articles. When published, the articles become the Saturday October 22nd, property of TPAN and its assigns. You may use your actual name or a pseudonym for publication, but 2005 please include your name and phone number. Opinions expressed in Positively Aware are not necessarily those of staff or membership or TPAN, For more information, its supporters and sponsors, or distributing agen- cies. Information, resources, and advertising in contact TPAN at Positively Aware do not constitute endorsement or recommendation of any medical treatment or 773–989–9400 product. TPAN recommends that all medical treatments or products be discussed thoroughly and frankly with a licensed and fully HIV-informed medical practitioner, preferably a personal physician. Although Positively Aware takes great care to ensure the accuracy of all the information that it presents, Positively Aware staff and volunteers, TPAN, or the institutions and personnel who pro- vide us with information cannot be held respon- Presented by Test Positive sible for any damages, direct or consequential, that arise from use of this material or due to errors con- Aware Network tained herein. 6 Positively Aware July/August 2005 tpan.com Editor’s Note “You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out!” ne of my favorite holiday movies is wagging their fingers in disapproval, I You can warn others about the dangers “A Christmas Story”, based on Jean didn’t want our readers, or anyone else for of crossing, or if a bus is coming. But you OShephard’s memoir of growing up that matter, to think that we were sanction- will never be able to stop everyone from in the 1940’s and desperately wanting a Red ing or condoning the use of illicit drugs, crossing the street, every time, no matter Ryder BB gun for Christmas. His mother especially for those living with HIV. how hard you try. In fact, your best-inten- tells him that he can’t have the gun because And fi nally, I thought that perhaps the tioned eff orts may inadvertently drive them he’s too young and it’s much too dangerous, timing might be misconstrued by some as further into the street, in their haste to get and continually admonishes him, “You’ll perhaps just a tad insensitive or a bit inap- away. shoot your eye out!” propriate—so maybe, just maybe, I would What you can do is to educate yourself His father secretly buys him the gun push the issue back a couple of months, and others about all of the risks, be aware and stashes it under the tree. On Christ- until aft er the angel dust had settled and of the consequences of your actions, and mas Day, he rips it open, and with warn- the meth-steria subsided. learn everything you can about what can ings from his mother to be careful, he runs But then, it suddenly dawned on me. be done to minimize harm, in an eff ort to into the back yard, fi res the BB gun, breaks With the newswires still sizzling with slant- keep yourself and others as safe as humanly his eyeglasses, and is thrown to the ground ed stories about superbugs and sex parties, possible. with a huge gash above his eye. needle exchange laws and broken virginity Test Positive Aware Network has always While his mother surely had the best pledges, what better opportunity than right been on the forefront of harm reduction in of intentions, her methods ultimately failed here, right now to try to help dispel the Chicago. We’ve seen it at work fi rsthand—it to prevent her son from coming into harm’s myths and break the silence? saves lives and prevents infections—and way. Th ere are a whole lot of misconcep- so we will continue to distribute condoms, Th e planning for this issue of Positively tions out there about what harm reduction clean needles and accurate information in a Aware began in September of 2004—the really is. And whether you realize it or not, straightforward and non-judgmental man- theme, “Defining and Defending Harm you more than likely already practice harm ner, for as long as we possibly can. Reduction”. Since then, countless reports of reduction. Harm reduction programs and their crystal methamphetamine use, especially in Every time you look both ways before proponents come in many shapes, colors the gay community, have been making the you cross the street, or clasp your child’s and sizes. I truly hope that the stories on local and national headlines with increas- hand as you leave the Wal-mart, or shove the following pages can begin to open all ing frequency and a sense of urgency. your money into your front pocket when of our hearts and minds to the possibility, In between the evening news sound you suddenly fi nd yourself in a strange, perhaps someday even the reality, of a safer bites and the attention-grabbing headlines, crowded subway, or put on a condom or and saner world.