There has always been a concern that using alcohol or other drugs may lead to unwanted or unsafe sexual activity.
A recent US study of 1,200 13- to 24-year-olds sheds a little more light on how substance use and risky sexual activity among young people are linked.

	79% of high school (Gr 9-12) students report having used alcohol at least once; 50% of high school students have had sexual intercourse.
	Young adults who use alcohol are seven times more likely than non-drinkers to have sex, while illicit substance users are five times more likely.
	Young adults who use alcohol are seven times more likely than non-drinkers to have sex, while illicit substance users are five times more likely.
	Up to 18% of 13-19-year-olds report drinking at the time of first intercourse; 25% of sexually active Gr 9-12 students report using alcohol or other drugs during their last sexual intercourse.
	23% of sexually active teens and young adults report having unprotected sex because they were drinking or using illicit drugs.
	Overall, 29% of 15- to 17-year-olds and 37% of those aged 18 to 24 said alcohol or other drug use influenced their decision to do something sexual.

It's important to note that this kind of self-report study cannot clarify just how much substance use is responsible for any particular action. Because someone says that drug use "caused" them to engage in unprotected sex, doesn't necessarily mean that the drug use was 100 per cent responsible for the action.

Do any groups in the network have information from their community on the links between substance use and sexual activity?
Do any of the programmes address the issue in their work?

Reference: http://www.kff.org

Gary Roberts, Senior Associate
Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse
Phone: 613-235-4048-225 // 613-829-3152 (home)
Fax: 613-235-8101/613-829-3307 (home)