High use of recreational drugs such as P definitely goes hand in hand with higher levels of unsafe sex and resulting risk of contracting HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, according to reports emerging from a major sex survey. It is unclear how direct any specific causal relationship between drug taking and unsafe sex is, with the possibility remaining open that both are also symptoms of underlying risky behaviour tendencies. Preliminary findings from surveys conducted recently by the NZ AIDS Foundation strongly reinforce the long-standing suspicion that men whose use of drugs such as P (a.k.a. methamphetamine) and cannabis is higher than their same-drug using peers are "more likely to report unprotected sex and are more likely to report a recent sexually transmitted infection," says Peter Saxton of the NZAF's Research, Analysis and Information Unit. Although the exact relationship between drug use and unprotected sex is not clear, the tendency of drugs such as P to override concerns about personal welfare could be a mechanism linking P, and to a lesser extent cannabis and poppers, to more frequent unsafe sex. "One direct mechanism is behavioural disinhibition when combining sex and drug use," says Saxton. "Another is that high frequency drug use is a marker of risk taking in general." An increased number of sex partners associated with drug use, their sexual and drug-taking history and the effect of drug use on the ways men choose to seek out casual sex, are also likely to be factors. "Your risk isn't [only] dependent on behavioural disinhibition in the heat of the moment, but on the ways you meet and choose sexual partners even when you're not using." For example, says Saxton, "we've found that men who have sex with men who report high frequency recreational drug taking also report higher numbers of sexual partners than other men. Now if men who frequently use recreational drugs tend to choose other frequent recreational drug users as sexual partners... then they'll be sexually mixing with men who have higher than average rates of partner change, and consequently with men who have higher than average rates of STIs. It would be a case of your sexually transmitted infection risk being higher because of the men you're having sex with." 43% of men aged 15 - 29 report using cannabis in the last six months, falling to an average of 24% amongst those over 45 years old. Poppers use remains fairly steady, with around 35% of all ages of men reporting its use. Maori men who have sex with men appear more likely than NZ European, Asian or Pacific Island men to use recreational drugs. Frequent use of P is considerably less common than longer-established stimulants such as cannabis, poppers or even ecstacy, with less then ten percent of 15-29 year olds reporting using it, dropping to just one or two percent in over 45s. However, just over 62% of frequent users of P report instances of unsafe sex, compared with 53% of frequent cannabis users and 50% of frequent poppers users. Worryingly, P users are more likely than other drug users to believe that contracting HIV is not as serious an issue as it once was. Compared with the nearest large gay population centre, NZ gay and bi men use 'heavy' drugs much less than their fellows in Sydney. Whilst poppers and cannabis use is almost identical in NZ and Sydney, the Australians use ecstasy and P nearly two and a half times more than Kiwis. The information on gay and bi men's sexual activity, drug use and reported sexually transmitted infections was collected in the NZAF's extensive Gay Auckland Periodic Sex Survey and the associated Gay Online Sex Survey.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Monday, 16th June 2008 - 6:23pm