virus, an HIV-positive man told The Royal Gazette .

And, he said, their targets are mainly young females -- what he termed as "fresh meat''.

The man, who we will call Joe to protect his identity, said some people with the deadly disease intentionally spread it because they become cold and callous and feel they have nothing to lose.

"You have some people who know they have the virus and they don't care who they pass it on to,'' Joe said. "I've been in situations where it has been witnessed. And innocent young people are involved.

"Youth to some represents fresh meat so you will find an older person wanting a younger girl and he entices her by getting her hooked on something (drugs) so he can control the situation.'' Joe, who contracted the AIDS virus from sharing needles with a handful of friends who have since died, added: "People who are on drugs have limited morals and if they are hurting, they don't have time to care about anyone else.'' Diagnosed HIV positive about 10 years ago when he was in his late 20s, Joe said he agreed to be interviewed now because he realised he had done his share of damage to society and if telling his story "could help one person, it would be worth it''.

Realising that there is still a stigma attached to people with AIDS and that they and their family are often ridiculed, Joe chose not to reveal specific details about his life.

Brought up in the church until he stopped attending at age 15, Joe said he was very much aware of the dangers of drugs and a promiscuous life.

But curiosity and the desire to meet any challenge his peers threw at him, lured Joe into a life of drug orgies and crime.

Today he is still struggling with the temptation of drugs.

"I considered myself a scientist,'' said the quick-witted young man whose illness is becoming visible. "I mean I started smoking marijuana because I was curious about it. I knew about the ill effects of it. At one time I even used to condemn people who used it.'' But in his early 20s and out on his own for the first time, Joe gave into his curiosity and smoked his first joint.

Not satisfied with the high, he began to snort cocaine.

About three years later he began shooting heroin.

"At first I did not really want to do it,'' he confessed. "It was offered to me at Court Street. And I'm the type of person that if I say I'm going to do something, I do it, even if I do it in fear. I don't like to back off from a challenge.'' Joe soon became bored of "riding the submarine'' alone and he started "recruiting'' and challenging his friends.

Joe made his friends watch him shoot first.

"I knew once they saw me do it, it would entice them,'' he said. "And that's the way it went, just the way I planned it.'' He stressed that curiosity will make some people do some things regardless of the consequences. And, he added, some people go around recruiting others.

When Joe first found out he was infected with the deadly AIDS virus he considered suicide because of the stigma attached to the disease.

But believing from his Christian upbringing that suicide is "the unforgivable sin'', Joe said was enough to stop him from taking his life.

He said he also had a spiritual awakening one day when he heard a voice from within say "you've tried everything else, try me''.

"Hoping and believing that God would deliver me from this sickness, I started attending church for the first time in a long time,'' Joe said.

While he has accepted his illness and the concept of death, Joe said his family could not initially.

Unaware of her son's "junkie'' lifestyle, Joe's mother said: "Boy stop talking like that'' when he told her about his illness.

Joe said his family have since accepted it and have been supportive.

So have Joe's friends.

"I haven't lost any friends over this,'' he said, realising that this is unusual for people with AIDS.

"In church, I have met people who I did not think existed,'' Joe added. "I never knew there were people so hospitable, so loving. I was expecting Bermuda-style cold. But I found people who genuinely cared. They welcomed me into their homes.'' Although Joe is not bedridden, he said he is ready to die.

"I'm already got my application for Heaven filled out,'' he joked. "I've prepared myself. When death comes, it will be welcomed.

"In fact, I've been saying death what is taking you so long.'' "But some of the Christians I hang around don't think I should say that because they feel God may have a purpose for me here.'' And Joe, who attributes his handling of the disease to his rejuvenated spirituality said: "I feel I should give God a chance. I know man can't heal this. But God can heal me spiritually. And if God can use me to be a testimony, I say okay, he can cancel out the death flight.'' Living a Christian life is also what Joe recommends for those, particularly young people, struggling with the "evils of the world''.

Joe said if he could leave advice for young people, he would tell them: "There are two forces that exist out there. One that loves you and one that hates you. If you're going to be attracted to the world, it is likely that you're going to get caught up in all the pitfalls that come in this life.

"The only way to avoid sin is to acknowledge God as Lord and Saviour and that will draw you out of the worldly environment.'' Joe stressed that in his time left on the earth, the only thing he desires is to be "delivered from all his old habits'' and live a complete Christian life.

"If I can't do that, I don't want to be around,'' he said, "because I know I would fall back into that old life because I'm weak in the flesh.

"Now that I've come down with what I have, it has drawn me closer to God.

"So in a way it is a blessing in disguise because otherwise I probably would have ended up dying without repenting because me and the Lord where in the dog house anyhow over the life I was living.'' Noting that AIDS statistics show that some people in Bermuda are still practising risky behaviour, Joe said: "It appears to me that people with AIDS are feared in Bermuda, but Bermudians are not afraid of AIDS''.

But he warned: "If you sleep with dogs, you're going to get fleas. If you play with fire, you're going to get burnt.''