Last week, Jonathan Van Ness, star of Queer Eye, came out with his memoir and an interview with NY Times about life managing HIV, sexual abuse, and drug addiction. They are all pressing issues in the queer community and in this episode, we dive into drugs.   Whether we like to admit it or not, drugs are all around us. They are at parties, festivals, and even the bars we frequent. Both legal and illegal drugs are being used and abused and for us to build a more mature relationship with it - it is to talk about them openly.   In this episode, we cover:

• Why are drugs prevalent in gay and Asian culture?
• History of drug use in gay culture
• Prevalence of drugs on gay dating apps
• Chemsex culture
• Drawing the line between personal responsibility and encouragement
• The G epidemic in gay culture
• A look into drug consumption worldwide
• The opioid epidemic in the US
• Drug laws and regulations across Asia
• Impact of drug liberalization
• How to manage drug culture when it is around us

LGBTQIA Resources:

• LGBTQIA Youth Talkline (ages 23 and under)
• • 1-800-96-YOUTH
  • Mon–Sat, 9.30 pm–12 am EST
  • Tue, 7 pm–12 am EST
• Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Youth Hotline (ages 23 and under)
• • 1.800.773.5540
  • Mon–Fri, 12 pm–8 pm EST
• Gay and Lesbian National Hotline
• • 1-888-843-4564
  • Mon–Fri, 4 pm–12 am EST
• Trans Lifeline
• • https://www.translifeline.org/
  • 1-877-565-8860

National Hotlines:

• SAMHSA’s National Helpline, 1-800-662-HELP (4357), (also known as the Treatment Referral Routing Service) or TTY: 1-800-487-4889 is a confidential, free, 24-hour-a-day, 365-day-a-year, information service, in English and Spanish, for individuals and family members facing mental and/or substance use disorders. This service provides referrals to local treatment facilities, support groups, and community-based organizations. Callers can also order free publications and other information.

• Trevor Suicide Prevention Line
• • 1-800-850-8078
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• • HIV/AIDS/STD Line
  • 1-800-342-2437
• HIV/AIDS Treatment Info Services
• • 1-800-448-0440
  • TDD: 1-888-480-3739
  • Mon–Fri, 12 pm–5 pm EST
• Covenant House’s Nine Line (a crisis line for youth and their families)
• • 1-800-999-9999
• National Runaway Switchboard
• • 1-800-231-6946
• National Youth Crisis Hotline
• • 1-800-HIT-HOME
• Alcohol and Drug Abuse Hotline
• • 1-800-821-4357
• Alcohol Hotline
• • 1-800-252-6465
• Drug Abuse Hotline
• • 1-800-888-9383

Show References:

• Thesis on “Eggplant and Peaches: Understanding Emoji Use on Grindr”
• Grindr finally deletes capital T due to concern over promoting meth
• UN’s 2018 World Drug Report
• Department of Human and Health Service Opioid Statistics
• CDC’s opioid statistics
• CNN’s investigative journalism covering drug trafficking in Myanmar
• United Nation’s Office on Drugs & Crime 2017 survey
• VOA News - Myanmar largest producer of opium
• Human Right Watch on Philippine’s “War on Drugs"
• Kotaku - Japan’s strictness on drugs
• JapanTimes - drug abuse & long-term care
• Paper on Emerging Risks of New Types of Drug Addiction in Japan
• US Embassy - Drug laws of Japan
• Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic & Consciousness Research
• Paper on drug liberalization
• Institute on Behavior and Health on drug liberalization

If you have any topics you’d love to hear covered, you can email me at [email protected].   So much love for you and I’ll talk to you later. Ciao. ♥️   You can follow me at:

• Instagram (instagram.com/stevenwakabayashi)
• YouTube (youtube.com/stevenwakabayashi)
• Weekly Newsletter (mindfulmoments.substack.com)