Sex drugs called avenue to HIV

Diedtra Henderson - The Boston Globe: "Richard Gallo's experience is shared by thousands of men who sometimes find other men through e-mail messages that read: ''Do you want to PNP?" It stands for ''party and play." To party, they take crystal methamphetamine, which reduces inhibitions but also their ability to have sex. To play, they pop Viagra at the same time. Gallo, a 28-year-old Boston resident, said he had many such sexual encounters.

That worries public health officials who say the drug combination promotes risky, unprotected sex with multiple partners.

Drug companies and government agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration, are scheduled to meet today and tomorrow in Maryland to discuss how the erectile dysfunction drugs Cialis, Levitra, and Viagra might be contributing to the transmission of HIV and other diseases.

Gallo, who worked in the porn industry, received hundreds of Viagra pills for free. After work, he popped them to party and play.

''We're talking days. Days, not hours," he said. One drug-fueled sex marathon lasted ''10 days in a row," he recalled. ''No eating, no sleeping." Gallo, now sober for a year, said taking the drugs together made him feel ''invincible."

They are also potentially deadly.

Last year, a New York man was infected by a strain of HIV that overwhelms almost every drug treatment. The source of his infection: Sex with two Connecticut men who warned him they were HIV-positive. A doctor said crystal meth impaired the New York man's decision-making."