METHAMPHETAMINE as a SUBSTITUTION TREATMENT OPTION for the SEX TRADE

Oldtown News
Vancouver, BC


METHAMPHETAMINE as a SUBSTITUTION TREATMENT OPTION for the SEX TRADE

The Pickton trial is now on a two week hiatus and the last witness before the break, Andrew Bellwood, a self-proclaimed crack user, has testified that Willy Pickton shared with him about how he--Pickton--supposedly killed missing Downtown Eastside prostitutes.

Mr. Bellwood has many similar traits as other witnesses who have testified for the crown so I'm not even going to go there regarding his credibility on this case. Although it has been exposed that Mr. Bellwood cavorted with many sex trade workers both in Vancouver and in Alberta.


What I'm going to provide you dear reader is an inside glimpse into the low-track sex trade stroll situated north of East Hastings street running roughly from Dunlevy street to Victoria drive and the connection of this stroll to men like Mr. Andrew Bellwood.

On any given night, in this abandoned industrial area, countless women hang out waiting, standing around, for that elusive trick to stop. From a provider perspective, it often seems you are on a merry-go-round as you observe so many of the same cars driving around, around and around. You recognize the cars after awhile and you turn away from the stares you know you receive.

Often many of these guys are just looking, with no intent of picking you up. So you recognize quickly that they are either lookey loos or circle jerks as they are called. Once in a while though you do get one of the circling lookey loos to stop. They are usually on rock or coke. More often than not these guys are trying to get you to exchange service for whatever party drug it is that they are using.

What differentiates the non drug-using customer from the drug-using customer is that the non drug-using customer quickly stops when they see something they like. These guys don't tend to drive around aimlessly working themselves up into an aroused and frenzied state.

For some girls using drugs on the stroll, you prefer the drug-using client because you also know that you can coax more and more cash out of them, usually to feed your own habit. Remember it was only a few months back that Mr. Ho, s prominent businessman in Vancouver was stopped on the low-track stroll with two drug-addicted sex workers in his car. Cocaine was also found.

If you are not a drug using sex trade worker, you hit paydirt in the form of some guy high on rock or coke who you know can't ejaculate since these drugs eliminates their erection. Their sexual appetite is fuelled by their brain high and most working girls are able to earn large sums of money since you are spending literally hours with this type of customer.

'Raven' who owns a home in West Vancouver loved these type of customers since they often spend upwards of up to a $1,000.00 for about three hours of your time. These guys even lose track of time so sometimes you can even say time's up but even this becomes tricky since you don't know how they may react.

I myself when working on-again wasn't comfortable with this type of customer since I found it too mentally draining being with them. All you are doing is pandering to their stimulated brain high. Physically they are unable to ejaculate and often remain in a hyper aroused psychological state because of their continuous drug use. They need to do more and more of the rock or coke since their altered state lasts a short period of time.

I also feared these guys as I believed them capable of flipping out especially if they became agitated which often can be the case, since they are unable to properly release their desire. To me the money wasn't worth it. Plus, I would actually feel sorry for these guys since they appear unable to engage in sexuality in a more relaxed and natural state. I would classify many of these men as also having sex addictions.

I know many guys are using various drug stimulants regarding their sexual desires and this is scary since they are putting themselves at greater risk of a multitude of problems, including acting out violently. This is even especially true in the gay male community

The crown witness, Mr. Bellwood is most likely one of these types of men. We have heard in his testimony how he was partying with a prostitute and picked up his common-law wife, with a sex trade worker in his car. After an argument ensued with his wife regarding his drug use, using his automobile, he ran over his wife, breaking her pelvis. Mr. Bellwood was also under investigation for a multitude of sex trade slayings in Alberta, Canada. Nice guy huh?

While abolitionists can point to the example above of why the sex trade shouldn't be regulated (de-criminalized) , however, this is exactly, in my opinion, why it should.

I think drug addicted women are at extreme risk and in need of protection from these type of men and this is why I am so fearful of Mayor Sam Sullivan's proposal called CAST (Chronic Addiction, Substitution, Treatment). Instead of exploring a holistic approach to the sex trade the CAST program will enlist female sex trade workers, replacing one harmful class of drug with other harmful psychological stimulant drugs such as Ritalin, thereby placing these vulnerable at-risk women into an explosive and potentially deadly mix with the already altered state of the methamphetamine drug-using customer. Like the men driving around super-charged, you will also have women with the administering of dangerous mind-altering stimulants, equally stimulated, often going for days on end without sleeping.

I'm going to keep slogging away bringing forward potential dangers of the Sex Trade and Methamphetamine as a Substitution drug replacement option. Perhaps I will try to get an interview with the Mayor or his newly hired Executive Director of CAST about the potential dangers of the CAST program.


Jamie Lee Hamilton
tricia_foxx@yahoo.com