A gay health advocate is calling on the Australian government to shut down hookup sites like Grindr until companies address the drug deals taking part on their services.
Jay Morris, 24, is a recovering meth addict who spent years in the gay party scene chasing the next high. In 2012 he began escorting for drug money.
Having gone through rehab twice with the support of a loving family, Morris sees hookup apps as a glaring problem among gay men.
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| Jay Morris, 24, is under treatment for his addiction at the Wagga Wagga Drug and Alcohol Centre |
“In the gay community, drugs is all about sex and partying and escaping everything that you need to escape from,” he told News.com.au, adding that, “[hookup sites] need to be monitored and shut down.”
“The gay scene is out of control on ice. It’s a complete free-for-all. You can watch people shooting up live on camera,” he continued.
Morris, who is now training to help recovering addicts like himself, brings up an interesting question.
Using Grindr for a drug deal helps facilitate self-destructive behavior, but what benefit would shutting it down serve?
Would it actually help drug users/dealers, who would undoubtedly find other avenues to connect?
A rise in meth use is clearly a major health crisis, but removing tools of communication seems like a whack-a-mole approach to solving it.
News.com.au finishes its piece by quoting “cyber expert Dr. Gregory Urbas from the University of Canberra” (very official) who professes that, “[hookup sites], and the participants, [are] on the wrong side of the law,” citing, “Commonwealth telecommunications law that prohibits phones and the internet being used to distribute a prohibited drug.”
And by resorting to the “drug addicts are criminals!” argument, the conversation loses its steam completely.
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