Drug Use at the Baths Part 1
The following is a true story. The customer in Room 316 was on overtime. REAL OVERTIME. He checked in at 8 PM the previous night, and now it was approaching Noon, just in time for the lunch special. He purchased a room for 12 hours, which was not so unusual. Men who purchase 12-hour rooms generally sleep over. For every customer who is running on overtime, a grace period of an hour or so is given. But the occupant of Room 316 had been in that room for 16 hours, four of which were on overtime. The desk attendant on duty repeatedly announced throughout the morning, via the loudspeaker, that Room 316 was on overtime. So he should either checkout or renew. For hours there was no response to the frequent announcements by the desk attendant. Nor was there any response from the repeated knocking on the door by the floor attendant. 
Finally the floor attendant decided it was time to burst in and wake up the tardy customer. It is not so unusual for customers to be on overtime that long. The occupant of Room 316 was probably still sleeping off his hangover from the previous nights partying. Having a 12-hour room, gives a customer in and out privileges. So he could have gone bar hoping, before returning to the baths to crash. The floor attendant knocked one last time, announcing that it was time to check out or renew. Hearing no response, the floor attendant inserted his master key and tried to open the door. But it would not open. Thinking the door was jammed the floor attendant started pushing and to his horror, realized the door was not stuck at all. But a body was slumped against the door. The occupant of Room 316 had overdosed the result of injecting cocaine. The autopsy report later stated that overdose happened at 10:00 PM. This meant that the customer was lying dead in that room for 14 hours. Considering that he was found slumped against his closed door seems to suggest that he was making a feeble attempt to save himself. And there he lay dying, while scores of guys were having sex in rooms around him. What this little vignette illustrates is the reckless drug use that is so prevalent in the gay community. Drug use seems to be such a part of the mainstream gay culture. It is as common as having that cup of coffee in the morning. As a gay man you see drugs being consumed at clubs, in bars, and at private parties. So why anyone should be so surprised that drugs are rampant in a bathhouse setting as well. To their credit, bathhouses generally prohibit the consumption of any type of recreational drugs to be used on the premises. You walk into any bathhouse in America and you will see a sign that reads, "The use of Alcohol and Narcotics are strictly prohibited". But how is the staff going to monitor what goes on behind closed doors. It is not like you get strip searched upon entering a bathhouse. Gay Saunas are all about privacy, and that is to be respected. Plus half the staff uses drugs recreationally in their personal lives, so who are they to judge if someone else is using. But when a bathhouse has to call the paramedics every Saturday night, due to a perceived overdose, then you know there is a problem. These two essays will take a comprehensive look at the whole drug and alcohol scene at the baths and it is not a pretty picture. It is a world that consists of drugs, alcohol and mindless sex. Remember the baths are a fantasy world, where gay men can do whatever they want. Within those walls, nothing is sacred. Of all of the drugs consumed at the baths, Marijuana seems to be the least serious of them all. It is deemed so minor by gay men, that it is not unusual to see the staff share a joint while on duty. And it is not uncommon to walk into a bathhouse and be hit with the scent of marijuana. Even walking down the halls, you can smell the odor coming from inside certain rooms. Some couples, after a three or four hour marathon of sex, will relax in the afterglow by sharing a joint. There are even some gay men that smoke a joint before going to the baths. It helps to loosen them up, so they do not have to feel inhibited. They do that, or they kick back a few shots of alcohol. 
Very rarely have I seen someone so drunk at the baths that they are bumping into walls and furniture. A drunk at the baths is a liability to business, as it will drive customers away. If someone shows up that smashed and wants to get in, the desk attendant will likely turn him away. The consumption of alcohol is strictly prohibited, as many bathhouses do not have a liquor license. So guys drink alcohol at the baths very openly, but discreetly. I say that because you will not see guys holding a vodka bottle or can of beer while walking up and down the halls. But you will see guys carrying plastic bottles containing not soda, but alcohol. The plastic bottle is not clear, so you cannot tell what type of liquid is being consumed. And there is always more alcohol in the customer's locker, so the soda bottle can be re-filled when it gets empty. On the whole, a majority of gay men who drink at the baths are able to hold their liquor. But over the years I have seen some men passed out in the lounge or the whirlpool obviously drunk. Or you will see men drunk, sitting in the lounge talking gibberish to anyone who will listen. But that type of behavior is only seen at bathhouses that prohibit liquor on the premises. Some gay saunas do have a liquor license, and allow liquor to be consumed. But only in the bar area and the customer is not allowed to take liquor into their rooms. But by far the most popular minor drug consumed by gay men is Amyl Nitrate better known as "poppers". Poppers are inhaled to enhance sexual pleasure. So you can see why it is extremely popular in the gay community. They have a reputation for both enhancing the intensity of an orgasm and helping relax the anal area while you are having sex. This is great if you are an exclusive bottom. So you can see why men love their poppers, and do not want to leave home without them. Some men will even wear the small bottle of poppers on a chain around their neck, as a necklace. With the amount of quickies that take place at any given time at the baths, you have to be prepared. A quickie encounter may take place when you least expect. In fact I see more men carrying around poppers than condoms! Poppers are technically illegal without a prescription. But you can find them for sale at many bathhouses and sex stores. You can even purchase them on-line by typing "poppers" in the search engine. What should be pointed out is that when you mix poppers or other drugs together, it is a lethal cocktail. Poppers mixed with Viagra, can drop blood pressure to dangerously low levels. But that is nothing compared to mixing that with Crystal meth. Now we get to the serious drugs being consumed at the baths: Crystal meth, GHB, Ecstasy, Special K, Speed and Crack Cocaine While marijuana and poppers are consumed openly at the baths, these hard-core drugs are consumed much more discreetly. And they are taken in combination with each other, which is even worse. But to get back to Viagra for a minute, you may ask yourself why Viagra is so popular in the club scene? After all it is associated with older men, and these young twinks certainly do not need the help. Apparently long-term use of E (ecstasy) kills a person's sex drive. So to get in the mood, Viagra is taken along with the E and the rest of the club drugs. E (ecstasy) is the most popular of all of the club drugs out there. E can be taken in combination with other drugs like G (GHB) and K (Special K). How do the drug users keep everything straight in terms of what is safe to mix and what is not? When taking club drugs you can mix a vowel (E) with the consonants (G & K), but you NEVER mix the consonants (G & K) together! It is generally younger gay men (Twinkies with 5% body fat) who are into this scene. Ever wonder why so many young gay men look anorexic? It is because many of them are taking E. This is a drug that speeds up a person's metabolism, as it is an amphetamine. As well, if they are taking GHB, that apparently stimulates the release of growth hormone, acting as an anabolic steroid. So they are able to have a primo body without ever working out. But exercise is the furthest thing on many twinks minds. At the top of many their agenda are circuit parties and club drugs. 
There are a variety of reasons as to why drug use is so rampant. Peer pressure and the need to feel acceptance from the gay community are an obvious reason. Especially in young gay circles where drug use is fashionable among the social fabric of being young, out and gay. By consuming these drugs a high is achieved that is so great, you literally feel that you can dance all night long. But there are other men who use drugs for the opposite reasons. They are still in the closet, and do not feel like they fit in to the "gay community". On the one hand they carry this huge sense of isolation with them. And on the other hand, they are very horny for another guy. By getting high, these men can temporarily feel good about becoming intimate with another man without the anxiety, self-questioning, or guilt. It is just a temporary escape from the pain and misery. For the rest of the drug users, it gets them in contact with other users. And a small community of users is born, most of who are homeless. The heavy drug use at the baths usually happens very late at night. The groups in this scene are the Twinkies (younger gay men) who party hard and into the night. They begin the night taking a hit of some GHB or Special K. That seems to be the general rule; you cannot start the evening off without a buzz. Then they club hop and visit the bars. They meet up with other friends and continue to kick back more booze and drugs, and dance the night away. By the early morning hours the bars close, and many of these gay men wind up crashing at the baths. But they are not at the baths to sleep it off. It is a post-party, albeit a risky, explicitly sexual post-party. To recreate that club feeling, many baths will turn the music on full blast. Hearing that loud, gyrating dance music seems to get everyone in the mood to continue the party. By this point, these men are so high on drugs (in different combinations) and alcohol, that high-risk sex is not so unusual. Crystal meth and Cocaine will do that to you. By taking these drugs, you feel such a sexual sense of euphoria, that you cannot imagine having sex without taking a hit. Being that high seems to liberate a lot of gay men from the heavy weight of safe sex. At that moment they can re-create the freewheeling days of the 60s and 70s. Having sex anytime with anyone, without making a mental checklist of what is safe and what is not. Even with all of this freewheeling sex going on, you may occasionally see men taking a hit of GHB or K out in the open. (GHB makes you HORNY as hell!) They are feeling high and do not care what people think. By the early morning hours, you will often see guys bouncing off the walls high on GHB or passed out on one of the lounge chairs. Or you can hear scores of men having group sex, locked away in their rooms. The bathhouse staff really cannot monitor what is going on. They are to busy checking people in and cleaning rooms, as the demand for rooms and lockers gets bigger and bigger. After 2AM is the busiest and best moneymaking time for the baths. When the bars and clubs close the party has to continue somewhere else. You may ask why a bathhouse will let these intoxicated men in. Well, the desk attendant generally refuses entry to a person that is clearly intoxicated. So to get around that rule, these Twinkies take a different approach. They purchase a room, before going out to party. That way they cannot be refused entry when they return, as they have already per-paid. Plus they need not to worry about getting a room, if the bathhouse becomes booked solid later in the evening. By pre-paying they have secured their spot. The 2 AM crowd also consists of men who struck out at the bars. These men have been hanging out at the bars all night long looking to pick someone up. If they fail to take someone home by closing time, they just trot down to the baths to get off with someone else. So the crowd at 3 or 4 AM consists of the Twinkies who club and take drugs and the middle-aged bar type man who needs to get laid. No wonder why there is always a line up that stretches around the corner at 2AM every morning. 
After all of the partying and non-stop sex, these younger gay men finally crash in bed (hopefully in the room they purchased) and sleep it off. They wake up in a stupor at around noon. It is not unusual to wake up and find someone in your bed, that you do not recognize. It is even worse if there are four or five guys in your bed, and you have no clue how they got in there. Even though these Twinkies are tired, sore and strung out, they are ready to do it all over again. Now most of these hard-core party guys know their limits. They have jobs, pay rent, and know they have some responsibility. By Monday morning they are so wiped out, that they need the rest of the week to recuperate. Why does it take a week to recover from a weekend of partying? Long-term use of E affects the serotonin levels in the brain. Serotonin is a critical neuro-chemical that regulates mood, emotion, learning, memory, sleep, and pain. E injures serotonin neurons causing a variety of behavioral and cognitive consequences as well as impairing memory. In short, on Monday and Tuesday after a weekend of partying and kicking back drugs, you are still in somewhat of a daze. The drugs have fried the serotonins in your brain. Although these can re-grow, they do not grow back normally and might not grow back in the right location. So many of these young gay men restrict this type of partying to the weekends. But for some, it has gotten out of hand. This is the dark side to the baths and it is the next essay. CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE
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