Young Adults Using Alcohol, Drugs for Better Sex

Young Adults Using Alcohol, Drugs for Better Sex
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/09/AR2008050902095.html
FRIDAY, May 9 (HealthDay News) -- Many teens and young adults inEurope are drinking alcohol and taking drugs for sexual purposes,according to a survey of more than 1,300 people who are regularnightlife-goers.The results showed that a third of males and a quarter of femalesaged 16 to 35 drink alcohol to increase their chances of sex, whilecocaine, ecstasy and cannabis are used to enhance sexual arousal orprolong sex.Nearly all of the respondents reported alcohol use, with most havinghad their first drink when they were 14 or 15 years old. About three-quarters had tried or used cannabis, and about 30 percent had atleast tried ecstasy or cocaine.Even though many respondents believed alcohol and drugs offeredsexual "benefits," the survey found that drunkenness and drug usewere strongly associated with an increase in risk-taking behavior andfeelings of regret about having sex while under the influence ofalcohol or drugs.For example, those who'd been drunk in the previous four weeks weremore likely to have had five or more sex partners, sex without acondom, and to have regretted sex after drink or drugs in the pastyear. Similar consequences were noted in those who'd used cannabis,cocaine or ecstasy.Respondents who used alcohol, cannabis, cocaine or ecstasy before age16 were much more likely to have had sex before that age. This wasespecially true for girls, who were nearly four times as likely tohave had sex before the age of 16, if they drank alcohol or usedcannabis before that age.The findings were published in the journalBMC Public Health."Trends in recent decades have resulted in recreational drug use andbinge drinking becoming routine features of European nightlife," leadauthor Mark Bellis, of Liverpool John Moores University, said in aprepared statement. "Millions of young Europeans now take drugs anddrink in ways that alter their sexual decisions and increase theirchances of unsafe sex or sex that is later regretted. Yet despite thenegative consequences, we found many are deliberately taking thesesubstances to achieve quite specific sexual effects.""Sexual activity accompanied by substance use is not just incidental,but often sexually motivated," noted co-author, consultantpsychiatrist Amador Calafat. "Interventions addressing sexual healthare often developed, managed and implemented independently from thoseaddressing substance use, and vice versa. However, young people oftensee alcohol, drugs and sex all as part of the same social experience,and addressing these issues requires an equally joined-up approach."More informationThe U.S. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism has moreabout alcohol-related risk behaviors among youth.http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/Resources/DatabaseResources/QuickFacts/Youth/default.htmSOURCE: BioMed Central, news release, May 8, 2008