Substance Abuse & HIV/AIDS: First Person

It took Carlos Perez eight years to recover from his addiction to crystal methamphetamine. Click here for his story.

California Campaign Against Meth Abuse Includes First-Person Web Videos (Regularly Updated)
Viewers of MeNotMeth.org can add their own first-person stories to a growing collection of videos and find resources throughout California for fighting meth addiction.
From Me Not Meth
The Only Thing "Positive" in My Life Was My HIV Status: A Blog Entry by B. Osten (February 14, 2012)
"Every now and then the past creeps back. And when it does I take a moment and compare it to where I am today."
From TheBody.com
Living My Life Positively (February 4, 2012)
"I've been ridiculed and criticized because of my HIV status," writes Louisiana resident Millicent Foster; "But that has just made me more determined."
From TheBody.com
Profile: Inspiring, Devoted, Unstoppable (Winter 2012)
Despite the loss of her grand amour, Chantale Perron is as determined as ever to support and fight for the rights of drug users and people with HIV.
To read PDF, click here.
In The Positive Side, from Canadian AIDS Treatment Information Exchange
I Yam What I Yam! A Blog Entry by Rev. Andrena Ingram (January 22, 2012)
"I am a child of God, and for the past five years, am the pastor of a congregation on Germantown Avenue, in Philadelphia. It has been a long journey, a very public journey ... especially when it comes to my HIV status. No secrets ... I live my life as a religious leader LIVING unashamedly with the HIV virus."
From TheBody.com
Surviving Addiction, an Advocate Finds Her Voice (January 17, 2012)
From AIDS Foundation of Chicago
Beneath an Angel's Wings: My Story of Struggle and Longtime Survival, Part One (August 4, 2011)
From TheBody.com
Monday Reflection: Living With Addiction ... A Blog Entry by Rae Lewis-Thornton (July 25, 2011)
"When I heard about Amy Winehouse's death the first thing that crossed my mind, is that you die how you live. It's a sad but true reality and it's not just about drug and alcohol addiction but anything that has a hold on you, and that thing dictates your life."
From TheBody.com
From Addict to Activist With 3 Easy Letters: A Blog Entry by Jeannie Wraight (April 20, 2011)
"She told her listeners of the girl I was, a hard-core dope fiend. ... She told them that when she asked how it was, how it could be that 5 years later the same girl was standing on the streets of South Africa, alive, thriving and fighting that I told her simply: 'I became an activist'."
From TheBody.com
My HIV Is My Strength; Don't Give Up! A Message of Hope: A Blog Entry by Kevin Maloney (April 3, 2011)
"As my campaign above states, my HIV became my strength. Had I been diagnosed with cancer or another life altering health condition that would have been my strength too!"
From TheBody.com
Recovering Joy: A Video Blog Entry by Mark S. King (December 20, 2010)
"[In this classic holiday video], you'll find a special reading of ''Twas the Night Before Christmas' by my alter ego Anita Mann ... Thanks for the gifts you have given me this year, my friends, and here's to a wondrous, healthy year ahead."
From TheBody.com
Poetry: H-I-Me -- A Blog Entry by Brandon Lacy Campos (October 19, 2010)
Let me be clear with all ya'll here / If you are choosing to go on a meth-fueled sex affair / My responsibility to the outcomes of your personal decisions stop right there / So happy we got all that out in the air.
From TheBody.com
This Positive Life Video: An Interview With Ron Crowder (August 24, 2010)
When Ron tested positive in jail back in 1991, he wasn't surprised. Being an injection drug user who was sharing needles, he knew he was at risk. Yet, being diagnosed in a time when AZT was the only medication available, Ron never lost hope nor has he allowed an AIDS diagnosis to stop him from giving back and educating Nashville's African-American community about HIV.
From TheBody.com
This Positive Life Video: An Interview With Brenda Chambers (August 24, 2010)
This mother of four, recovering crystal meth addict and sexual abuse survivor did not allow her 2003 HIV diagnosis to stop her from living. In fact, she used it as a means to stop using drugs, regain custody of her children and become an AIDS activist.
From TheBody.com
Stella's Journey (July/August 2010)
From survival to healing.
To read PDF, click here.
In Positively Aware, from Test Positive Aware Network
Facing Change: A Video Blog Entry by Mark S. King (March 16, 2010)
From TheBody.com
After Sex Work, Homelessness and Drug Addiction, an HIV-Positive Man Comes of Age (Winter 2008/2009)
Kevin was a teenager when he was infected with HIV. In this moving personal story, Kevin explains how his life got so messy -- and how he got the help he needed to clean himself up.
To read PDF, click here.
In Achieve, from ACRIA and GMHC
The Drug Addict Takes a Holiday: A Video Blog Entry by Mark S. King (January 13, 2009)
Mark returns to "the scene of the crime": his old haunt in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., from which he fled three years ago to enter drug rehabilitation.
From TheBody.com
U.S. Harm Reduction Programs: The Cloud in the Silver Lining (January 9, 2009)
A closer look at the lives of the heroic people who make needle exchanges and other harm-reduction programs possible in the U.S., but whose own drug problems may go untreated, with tragic results.
In The Wall Street Journal
Profiles in Courage: George Burgess (July 2007)
From TheBody.com
Profiles in Courage: An Interview With an HIV-Positive Substance Abuse Counselor in Chicago (January 2006)
From TheBody.com
Florida: One Woman's Odyssey of Drugs, Sex and HIV Leads to a New Life on South Beach (August 9, 2005)
In CDC HIV/Hepatitis/STD/TB Prevention News Update, from U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Living With[out] Crystal Meth (July/August 2005)
Eddie Young describes how he finally came to terms with his relentless drug addiction.
To read PDF, click here.
In Positively Aware, from Test Positive Aware Network
Living With Crystal Meth (March/April 2005)
Eddie Young felt his crystal meth habit was harmless at first, but as it grew into a full-blown addiction, he realized that the price he was paying was just too high.
In Survival News, from AIDS Survival Project
I Changed My Mind (September/October 2004)
A gay, HIV-positive drug user who watched his soulmate die from AIDS in 1993, Len Greenough's long descent was stopped at the last moment by two amazing friends -- and a pivotal decision.
In Survival News, from AIDS Survival Project
Meth Addicts Describe the Recovery Process (October 10, 2003)
A detailed, personal look at what it takes for some gay men to beat their crystal meth addictions. This is the last article of a five-part series; previous articles are also available.
In Washington Blade
My Kind of Life: Crystal Death-Amphetamine (July/August 2003)
To read PDF, click here.
In Positively Aware, from Test Positive Aware Network
Living in Spite of It All (July/August 2003)
Bil Romain and his lover tested positive for HIV in 1997 -- but that was just the beginning of his remarkable story of survival.
In Survival News, from AIDS Survival Project
User's Corner: "Keepin' It Together" (Summer 2003)
Recovering drug addict Arams talks about the importance of support groups.
In Resolute!, from PWA Coalition Colorado
Crystal: The New Epidemic (June/July 2002)
In Positive Living, from AIDS Project Los Angeles
HCV/HIV Co-Infection II: Sobriety and Treatment (March/April 2002)
[Archived Article]
To read PDF, click here.
In Positively Aware, from Test Positive Aware Network
Land of Oz: Sex, Drugs and HIV (March/April 2002)
To read PDF, click here.
In Positively Aware, from Test Positive Aware Network
Positive Empowerment (November/December 2001)
After years of hiding from HIV in drug use, Tyrone Pittman is now positive about being positive.
To read PDF, click here.
In Positively Aware, from Test Positive Aware Network
"If I Kill Myself at This Point, I'd Be Killing the Wrong Person": A Memoir (June 2001)
Frank Salinas' story of surviving a life in the orphanage, in prison, with addiction, and with HIV/AIDS, and emerging stronger in the end.
In Body Positive, from Body Positive
I Have HIV: My #1 Disease Is Drug Addiction (Spring 2001)
Former nurse Judith Fadden writes about her years of drug use, two prison terms and road to recovery.
In Women Alive Newsletter, from Women Alive
AIDS in the Twilight Zone (March/April 2000)
An interview with HIV-positive recovering drug addicts who have worked for many years in the sex industry.
In Positively Aware, from Test Positive Aware Network
Reflections on the Suicide of a Circuit Partier (May 1998)
From Rev. A. Stephen Pieters
Living With HIV: A Fighting Chance for Fulfillment (June 1996)
In Positive Living, from AIDS Project Los Angeles