Drug Use @ The Baths: Part 2

Drug Use @ The Baths: Part 2

The prevalence of drug use among gay men continues to amaze me. Many of these men can function, hold a job, and maintain relationships with others. Simultaneously, the individual is ingesting drugs all day long. They do not use marijuana or poppers. They consume hardcore drugs like GHB, Special K, speed, and even magic mushrooms. Drug use now seems to be the norm in mainstream gay culture. Certain gay elitist circles accept it and even consider it fashionable. While some men can handle these drugs, an equal number of gay men cannot. Inevitably, these men find their lives spinning out of control.

Let’s focus on the darker side of the baths. You can quickly transition from being a recreational user to an addict. As an addict, your sole purpose is to scrape enough money to get high. If you’re not a millionaire, this presents numerous challenges. Addicts lose themselves in a haze of alcohol, pot, crack, crystal meth, and anything else they can find. They become human garbage pails. I’ve even heard of someone so addicted to Crystal Meth that he wiped out all his savings and his kid’s college fund, sold his condo, and stole money from other people to continue his habit. Now he’s in hiding because he owes money (lots of it) to his drug dealer. Using this person’s story as an example, it should be no surprise that many addicts become homeless. Where do they wind up? The Gay Baths, of course.

How do these addicts wind up living on and off at the baths? Most of these men had a successful life before they became addicted to drugs. They had jobs, friends, a home, and family. Regrettably, the experimentation with illegal substances ruined their lives. It starts with recreational drug use. Then it spirals out of control, leading to the onset of addiction. These men become drug addicts, consumed with the obsession of getting high. They have sold all their possessions for drugs and are now homeless. These addicts crash at the baths, but only when they have the money. Some of these addicts who stay at the baths are even straight. Beggars cannot be choosers when it comes to a roof over one’s head.

Then there are the guys that are new to the scene. Every day scores of young, twenty-something gay men arrive in the big city, all with a similar story. They have come from small towns or other states that do not have much of a gay community. Newly graduated from university, they cannot wait to arrive in the big metropolis and begin their new life. Others are teenagers who have run away from oppressive home lives, wanting to be free and gay. Parents may also throw teenagers out of the house because of their queer identity. They’ve all had to flee their abusive home environments.

Whatever their story is, all these men arrive in the city with some optimism. Finally, they will be able to be amongst other gay men and feel part of a community. They are breaking out of their shells and embracing their freedom. Sounds romantic? However, it’s important to exercise caution when making wishes, as they may come true. It is always the same with these young men. They arrive with a few thousand dollars in their pockets and big dreams in their heads. They have this romantic feeling that everything will be beautiful. However, after six months, you notice a dramatic change in these once optimistic men—a change that is not flattering. When they first arrive, they are fresh-faced with firm bodies, a bit naive with wide-eyed innocence. However, six months later, they look strung out, and their eyes appear fully dilated—as though they have visited an eye specialist.

If you are new to the “gay ghetto” and don’t know anyone, you risk falling into the wrong crowd. The rent in the “gay ghetto” is enormous, with the first and last month’s payment required to secure any place. These newbies find the cheapest place to spend the night—the bathhouse. They are filled with trepidation and fear because of the unfamiliarity of the place. They must choose between going to the baths or sleeping on the streets. The newbies will inevitably run into hustlers and drug users when they stay at the baths. With no friends, these newcomers want to fit in and make friends. Unfortunately, they will succumb to the drug scene and ultimately become addicts. Sometimes it occurs by happenstance; a newbie will meet a drug user, talk, and share a hit. Or, more likely, a drug dealer will target a newbie and deliberately get him high. Once the high becomes the person’s only craving, there’s no turning back. They become addicts.

While the bathhouse I regularly frequent is drug-free, not all baths are like that. Some bathhouses have drug dealers roaming the hallways looking to sell. As I wrote about gay prostitution earlier, a bathhouse can do nothing to stop this drug trafficking. Bathhouses are all about the privacy between two consenting adults. There is no way for a bathhouse to monitor what goes on in a private room. A drug dealer, as an added precaution, finds it wise to provide a free sample to a staff member in exchange for his silence. The dealer then goes to work, walking up and down the halls in search of men who want to get high or stay high. These dealers try to be discreet and conduct their business behind closed doors. But to maintain any business, drug dealers continually target the fresh, young newbies on the scene. The dealer will strike up a conversation with this newcomer. He will give the newbie a tiny bump as a welcome gift, just enough to get him hooked. The sooner the dealer can get a new addict hooked, the more money he makes. Inevitably, the dealer will have a new customer to add to his long list of clients.

Many of these drug users become homeless. But somehow, they scrape up enough money for a 12-hour room at the baths, so at least they have a place to sleep at night. Plus, the 12-hour room gives them “exit and re-entry” privileges to go out, score some drugs, and then return to the baths and get high in the privacy of their rented room. Inevitably, the gay baths become home to many of these homeless addicts. They all carry a knapsack containing their drug paraphernalia, a change of clothes, and some toiletry items (which they regularly shoplift, preferring to spend their money on drugs). The gay baths have all of the comforts of a home. There are showers, free liquid soap to stay clean, a television, a bed to sleep in, and a snack bar to buy food. Some baths even have a complimentary buffet once a week, and many homeless addicts make sure they are present for that. At some bathhouses, they even get their clothes washed and dried. The floor attendant throws their items in the washing machine, along with the towels and bedding that also need cleaning. However, not all floor attendants will be that nice. Some demand money or a sample of drugs in exchange, so a bribe is not uncommon.

What I have described may sound quaint, but trust me, it is not. As a drug addict, you find yourself involved in a community of other addicts. They all engage in deceit, theft, and strategizing to achieve that high. Observing all these hustlers, drug addicts, and drug dealers under the same roof is fascinating. At times it’s almost like watching a soap opera, seeing them all interact with one another. These folks may appear, on the surface, to be friendly with one another. But they are far from being real friends. In reality, they could not care less about each other. They lack any feelings of jealousy, competitiveness, or threat. They all want to get high, which is the only thing on their minds.

Being addicted to drugs makes you lose track of time. The days and weeks have no structure, as the only thing that consumes an addict’s mind is the prospect of getting high. It is not unusual for a drug addict to spend weeks at the baths because their drug dealer is there, so why bother leaving? I have even heard of one addict who spent an entire month inside the baths without ever going out. He was getting high daily. If you spend all your waking hours trying to score a hit, you have no time for a job. So you do what other drug users do to score some quick cash. You sell your body for money, also known as hustling.

Prostitution and baths appear to be closely related. So, why do bathhouses tolerate hustling? Some bathhouse owners view prostitution as beneficial for their bottom line. If a gay man enters, hires a hustler, has sex, and then leaves, that customer can leave within 30 minutes. The more men come in and out, the more money the baths can make. Consequently, drug users often hustle to make a profit at the baths, with at least half of them being straight! It’s not surprising that some addicts, once high, never leave the baths. They can sell their bodies for money and buy drugs at the baths to stay high. Taking all these drugs seems to make an addict’s body razor-thin, a trait that appeals to men seeking sexual relations. I’ve always wondered how some hustlers had skinny bodies yet never went to the gym. Ecstasy speeds up a person’s metabolism, as it is an amphetamine. If they take GHB, that stimulates the release of growth hormones, which act like an anabolic steroid. Therefore, addicts can achieve a muscular physique without engaging in any physical activity. So they are ready for business.

They move from room to room, seeking companionship while discreetly claiming to be “working.” Typically, they can lure a lonely married Asian man for a 20-dollar blowjob. They can also offer a 60-dollar anal encounter to an elderly white man. They also target extremely obese men. Addicts understand that these three “types” of men are the most desperate for sex. They aim to spend as little time as possible with their mark. The only thing they want is money to buy more drugs. Desperation for money often leads these addicts to bargain down their prices. In the beginning, he may ask 40 dollars for a blowjob. The price has now fallen to $20 and then to $15. These men are willing to go to extreme measures to secure money for their drug addiction. Even during sexual encounters, a drug addict’s primary concern is the amount of money they can earn from their drugs. It’s how male addicts who are 100% straight manage to get through performing a blowjob, continuously imagining the drugs they get afterwards.

If an addict is unable to earn any money after attempting all the strategies I just discussed, they may resort to theft as a means of securing their drugs. If a bathhouse customer becomes a robbery victim, will they call the police? No, as it is embarrassing. Plus, look where the theft occurred—at a gay bathhouse. The most common theft occurs when two addicts team up to steal money from an unsuspecting customer. One addict will likely distract their target, while the other will steal the customer’s key and raid their room. Neither addict trusts the other to bring back equal amounts of drugs, so they both score the hit together. Alternatively, the addict may use GHB to induce unconsciousness in their victim. The addict will slip GHB into a customer’s drink and wait for him to pass out. Once that happens, the addict takes the customer’s money for drugs. I even heard a story where the addict used GHB to lubricate his dick. The customer sucked the addict’s penis, rendering him unconscious.

When selling their body or stealing proves unsuccessful, they resort to begging as a final option. I have often seen these men pleading with customers for money at the baths. These addicts justify their actions by citing their impending locker termination due to overtime. The drug user initially breaks down in tears. He will swear that after he pays for the room and everything is alright, he will go to the nearest ATM and pay back the money. It is only a 5-minute loan, the drug user says. But in reality, it is for drugs, and once the user gets his money, he will claim the ATM was out of order! The scammed customer will never see his money again. The addict smoked it all away.

While I have described a bleak picture, not all baths are like this. The bathhouse I go to has a zero-tolerance policy on drugs and prostitution. They keep a list of drug addicts, dealers, and hustlers banned from the premises. Some bathhouses even refuse to offer exit and re-entry privileges. That is to curtail men from leaving the baths to score drugs, then returning to light up in the privacy of their rooms. Other bathhouses do not offer matches to their patrons. If an addict doesn’t have a lighter, he can’t light up behind closed doors. But let’s be honest. Though the bathhouse I visit tries to be drug-free, you can’t stop it. Drug use happens in every single bathhouse worldwide.

These addicts live in a never-ending cycle. Unfortunately, many gay establishments struggle to prevent drug use from occurring within their premises. As long as it is socially acceptable amongst gay men, overdoses like those I wrote about will continue. For these men, nothing is sacred.