In Prism & Pen, we're serializing a memoir by John Cormier about his meth addiction. That's in a different league from smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol, but it's the same ball game.

Meth addiction is one of those things lots of people involved in gay culture see but don't talk about very often. It's not as common as alcohol abuse, but it's there, and it's not going away on its own.

Smoking cigarettes is fast becoming socially unacceptable among youth, and that's wonderful considering how much suffering cigarettes cause. (My own father suffered terribly in the latter part of his life from cigarette-induced lung disease.)

Seeing gay people trailing in the trend to stop smoking or not start is sad.

Sometimes I wonder if we're too reluctant to talk about substance issues out of fear of reinforcing negative stereotypes and fueling backlash.

A couple people have asked me, with raised eyebrows, if publishing John's meth memoir is a wise move in today's climate.

The inevitable tension that helps form the answer is part of the problem we face. Yes, it's a wise move from the perspective of gay men learning about the dangers inherent in chemsex culture. But also yes, it probably will fuel prejudice on the part of people already invested in that prejudice.

We need to talk about our elevated risk for substance abuse, but we often don't want to, for quite rational reasons.

We really should, though.