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.
“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.”
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“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.
What do you think? Should hook-up sites be held accountable for drug deals?
Grant Mealey
Oh please…..yup that will put an end to sex drugs and partying ……everybody will just instantly stop not find a way around it…..smh
Ken Spragg
Why target grindr specifically, hm? Surely *the internet* more broadly is to blame– how many straight people are using facebook to facilitate buying and selling drugs? No, this is just a cheap shot by some arseholes always on the lookout for new ways to scapegoat gay people as the source of all of society’s ills. That should be utterly fucking transparent to anyone not in a vegetative state.
Loundis Pot Pie
Soooo instead of acknowledging the psychological and sociological reasons that queer people (and let’s be real, gay men) would be more inclined to alcoholism and drug addiction, let’s just focus on Grindr instead and arrest all the addicts. Brilliant plan, dude. A+
Sidney Davies
No lol it doesn’t matter how many you shut down, there will always be more popping up.
jwtraveler
@jwtraveler: What now? Did I get flagged for using some taboo words like emphysema, alcoholism or diabetes?
moldisdelicious
Smh. All these folks keep making it all about them. Dude thinks that grindr and hookup apps should be shut down to keep him from using again. If he can’t handle grindr, he has the option of not getting the app.
Ralph Vendegna
No. Stop the Bullshit of putting Gay People as the cause. Assholes never seize to amaze me. Something happens so lets blame gay people.
Sergio Henry Ben
*yawn*
tdh1980
And what were the excuses before the age of mobile devices? This is nothing more than scapegoating technology in order to absolve oneself from owning responsibility for poor decision making. The “gay scene” is not out of control. Millions of gay men club and use hookup/dating apps regularly without devolving into drug use and other self-destructive behaviors, and they should not be penalized for the actions of a few.
Michael Machado
Grinder is just an easy target.
oregonduckbrad
The dumbest. That’s like saying we should outlaw phones, as they’re used to transmit drug deals. Completely stupid.
Stache99
Well, there is a definite drug problem on the site. Every single time I log in I’m being hit up to “party”. The ads are very obvious too. Sometimes with little cloud avatars.
They could clean it up by not allowing any mention of drugs like Manhunt did. Words like pnp or party aren’t allowed and any other implications of it are flagged for removal by other users.
Katie Ivanyshyn
With that logic that logic they should shut down phone companies.
Tommysole
So when some asshole posts to craigslist and puts “Party favors welcome, 420 Welcome,”
Are we gonna shut down craigslist now?
Not that I am agreeing with drug use, I am NOT! I despise drug use, Weed included, why the hell do you need ANYTHING when sex is the best feeling in the world?
I say, let them make drug deals and with a bit of luck they will overdose, die and clean the gene poo a bit.
Bradley Christopher Seewalt-Boman
No people make their own choices. I don’t do drugs or drink but I don’t think you should police people about things that are none of your business. Grinder is becoming to big brother with their need to control their users.
Andre Van Der Merwe
Regulate the once that comes over the border illegally and we might see a difference. Send those back without the proper papers to there own country and stop re issuing temp residency because of studies. They never do study.
Derick Lindsey
Shut down Grindr. They’ll just use other mediums.
Keith Woolgar
The fact that people use this site to facilitate drug transactions amazes me. The internet and digital communication are NOT private (never have been). Use your brains people.
WhattheF
People have been getting high and having sex long before the internet was a sparkle in some nerd’s eye… Nice try, but you’ll just have to blame yourself for your choices.
Patrick D Parks
People still use that app?
Salavante Darren
No just better monitored,I have reported many but no response back and now they want to be rated the best meeting/hook up site! I can give them several names that can be tied to drugs and prostitution a in Washington state to name one who goes by B.mills!
Kraig Fiero
Should craigslist be shutdown too
Luis Collazo
Salavante Darren you sound like a lot of fun!
Lancome Counter
Ummm… You can buy drugs on Craigslist….
Peter Rock Favazza
No war on drugs. Never worked and never gonna work.
Paul Dettmann
They shouldn’t have any responsibility for the messages sent on the service.
How could it possibly be prevented? Eavesdropping?
Kevin White
How about grindr shut down the users that so blatantly advertise drugs? If Facebook can filter posts for illegal activity I would think most sites could. Hell for that matter let the cops have accounts and arrest them directly.
James Sigmon
Yes this app is so fake and with fake bots now and spam.
Glücklich
@tdh1980:
Right? This sounds much more like the US than Australia.
Personal responsibility? What’s that?
Christopher DeRosa
I’m still mad that drug addicts ruined the word Party.
Dzaman Dzan
Yes
Andrew Howard-Williams
I doubt Drug Addicts just use Grindr. Im sure that Facebook is full of them so maybe we should shut down Facebook as well or are they saying only Gay People take drugs. Be real there are more Heterosexual drug users than Gay People as there are far more Heterosexuals than Gay People.
Ignacio Centeno III
Smells like anti-gay agenda to me.
Finrod
In other words, he screwed up his life and now he wants everyone else to be miserable with him. No, thanks. The rest of us are not responsible for YOUR inability to control your own behavior.
Realitycheck
@Ignacio Centeno III: Totally!!
lcandela123
Is this the sad result of a public school education?
Tom Gouzoules
Yes
Kangol
Ugh, HE has personal problems with self-control and addiction so rather than just working on himself he wants to impose his control on everyone else. Girl, please!
Douglas Schlitz
Any media can be used for Good or bad , like anything else. Get over it and quit trying to shut down everything, you sound like a republican !
Allie Pocket
we all know the party’s on tindr & ashley madison.
Billy Budd
Once I met a guy who used to Party & Play. Ugh.
jwtraveler
@Andre Van Der Merwe: Go back to the hole you climbed out of, you f–ing r@cist.
Louie Mars
First, rent boy, now-grinder…what’s next!? Drag Race?…
Brian Johnson-Frazier
It should be shut down because it is the source of STDs we don’t even know exist yet. I think I got one just reading this article that talks about Grindr.
Clai Green
Work on shutting down Jeff Sankrers white party first a fundraiser huge drug fest sounds like a great combo
Jennifer Trent
Absurd
Robert Wilson
No. This is the only way i can get laid.
Nathan Ziccarelli
Just get rid of it period.
Robert Gomez
By that logic, churches should be shut down for supplying victims to pederast priest.
Elmer Siegrist
NOT !
Tommy Ogletree
Lmao!! Seriously!!?? Grindr facilities something all right, but drugs isn’t it. Hahahahaha. People of all walks of life use drugs, and they use all sorts of things to talk about them. You want to shut down Grindr, then perhaps the US Postal System, or the harbors or any number of things. Sheesh. Lmfao!!!!!
Phil Kenyon
By that logic, you should shut down EE, O2, 3…
Jackson David Taylor
No because it doesn’t matter what app there you use, it’s gonna happen either way.
Tracy Pope
So it’s just a matter of making something illegal or banning hook-up sites? Nitwits.
@Andre Van Der Merwe: First: learn to spell. Second: Try to stay on subject. This is an article about drugs being bought and sold on hook-up sites online.
Chris Dexter
If your going to shut down Grindr for drugs your gonna have to shut down Growlr, Scruff, Facebook, Craigslist, AT&T, Verizon, all roads everywhere, Amsterdam, and any music store ever…
Frankie Mendoza
Should craiglist, A4A, and any other site be shut down along with it?
Jorge Antonio Coronel
Like shuting down Grindr is going to stop anything. If people want to get drugs and have fun who are you to judge.
asby
There are plenty of guys on grindr that are not using drugs….You are an adult….Stop blaming others for your inability to say “NO THANKS”.
Lvng1Tor
Why not just support the Gov (insert FREE country name here…) monitoring every text on every cell carrier and every email over every internet supplier and f’it just put camera’s in everyone’s home… It’s not grindr it’s individuals…take individual responsibility. If drugs are an issue for you seek help, stay off of apps like that and surround yourself with people who don’t do those things..people places things…if you relapse, try again and again until it works. It sucks being an addict and it’s hard work to quit and resume a drug free life (worth it) and yes you need some help from society. A private for for profit business that you are no forced to be on is not responsible for you being on it. No one can quit for you and it’s no ones responsibility but your own. Not buying the grindr made me do it….
seaguy
Censorship will not saolve the issue of gay men getting addicted to crystal meth in fact it would just make the transactions mpore secretive and harder to monitor
Jimmy McKinney
No not the site. But I do believe Grindr should shut down their account and turn the messages over to their local police departments.
WayDifferent
Yes. Vester Flanagan also used the word generou$$$ in his male “escort” ads years ago.
Let’s “progress” guys. It seems that for every step we take forward each decade, we take two steps back the next.
We can get married now. The world is watching. Rosie and her mixed up runaway child aren’t helping right now either.
jwtraveler
@Louie Mars: LOL. Really.
jwtraveler
@Robert Gomez: I actually agree with that. The Catholic Church is an international pedophile organization.
jwtraveler
@WayDifferent: It’s a little hard to follow your stream of consciousness, but you seem to be implying that because we now have the right to marry that we should all become Ozzie and Harriet (or Harry to be precise). We have no more obligation, or chance, of becoming perfect 1950s TV nuclear families than straight people do. Nor is there any reason to try.