Dangerous Liaisons: Substance Abuse and Sex
The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse
(http://www.casacolumbia.org/)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

10 a.m., Tuesday,
December 7, 1999 

Contact:

Alyse Booth
(212) 841-5260
Nancy Kearney
(212) 841-5262 

Teens who drink or use drugs likelier to have sex, initiate it at
younger ages and with multiple partners 

These teens at higher risk of STDs, HIV and Pregnancy 

CASA STUDY REVEALS DANGEROUS
CONNECTION BETWEEN TEEN SUBSTANCE
USE AND SEX:


WASHINGTON, D.C. Teens who drink or use drugs are
much more likely to have sex, initiate it at younger ages -- as
early as middle school -- and have multiple partners, placing
them at higher risk for sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs),
AIDS and unplanned pregnancies, according to a new
two-year, unprecedented analysis, Dangerous Liaisons:
Substance Abuse and Sex, released today by The National
Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia
University (CASA). 

Among the 170-page report's key findings: 

Teens 14 and younger who use alcohol are twice as likely to
have sex than those who don't. 

Teens 14 and younger who use drugs are four times likelier to
have sex than those who don't. 

Teens 15 and older who drink are seven times likelier to have
sexual intercourse and twice as likely to have it with four or
more partners than non-drinking teens. 

Teens 15 and older who use drugs are five times likelier to
have sexual intercourse and three times likelier to have it with
four or more partners than those who don't. 

"Before graduating high school, and even as early as middle
school, every teen will have to make a conscious choice
whether to drink alcohol or use illegal drugs and whether to
have sex," said Joseph A. Califano, Jr., former U.S. Secretary
of Health, Education and Welfare and CASA President. "While
it is clear that teens who drink and use drugs are likelier to have
sexual intercourse at earlier ages and with many partners, it is
not clear which starts first -- sexual intercourse or drinking or
drug use. Nevertheless, the report contains a loud and clear
message for parents, clergy, school counselors and other caring
adults: whichever teen activity -- sex or substance use -- first
comes to their attention, these adults should be prepared to
work with the teen on both matters."

Dangerous Liaisons: Substance Abuse and Sex was funded
by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and the Carnegie
Corporation of New York. The report is based on original
analyses of national data sets of more than 34,000 teenagers
concerning the relationship between substance abuse and sexual
activity; a review of more than 800 articles and books;
interviews with more than 100 experts in relevant fields, and an
examination of dozens of prevention and treatment programs
concerned with substance abuse, sex and sexual violence.

The report noted the growing proportion of 15-year-olds having
sex: according to national surveys in 1970, less than 5% of
15-year-old girls and in 1972, 20% of 15-year-old boys had
engaged in sex. CASA's analysis reveals that in 1997, 38% of
15-year-old girls and 45% of 15-year-old boys have had sex.
A Kaiser Foundation 1998 survey found that more than half
(52%) of 17 and 18-year-olds consider intercourse an accepted
part of dating by couples their age. 

CASA's study reveals that: 

63% of teens who use alcohol and 70% of teens who are
frequent drinkers have had sex, compared to 26% of those who
never drank. 

72% of teens who use drugs and 81% of those who use them
heavily have had sex, compared to 36% who never used drugs. 

"For parents and religious leaders who believe that sexual
abstinence before marriage is a moral imperative, this report
signals the particular importance of persuading teens not to drink
alcohol or use illegal drugs," said Califano. "For those who
consider teen sexual activity an inevitable or appropriate rite of
passage, this report points up the greater dangers for those
teens who drink and use drugs."

Adult Use and Consequences

The report also finds that while alcohol and some drugs, like
cocaine and methamphetamine, may initially enhance sexual
desire, heavy or chronic use of alcohol or drugs actually impairs
sexual function and performance. Alcoholic men have been
found to have more than three times the rate of impotence of
non-alcoholic men and episodes of impotence persist even after
years of sobriety. The report also links tobacco, cocaine and
heroin use to impotence.

With approximately 12 million new cases annually, U.S. STD
rates are the highest in the developed world. Among adults,
heavy drinkers are five times likelier than non-heavy drinkers to
have sex with at least 10 partners in a year. Problem drinkers
are three times likelier than non-problem drinkers, and drugs
users, nearly three times likelier, to contract STDs.

Alcohol and Violence

Alcohol is implicated in more incidents of sexual violence
including rape and child molestation than any single drug.
Alcohol use -- by the victim, the perpetrator or both -- is
implicated in 46% to 75% of date rapes of college students.
Thirty-eight percent of incarcerated sex offenders were under
the influence of alcohol at the time of the crime (23% under the
influence of alcohol alone, 15% under alcohol and drugs) and
5% were under the influence of drugs alone. Prison costs for
substance-involved sex offenders totaled $1.6 billion in 1998.

In addition, women who have alcohol and drug problems are
likelier to have been sexually abused as children or sexually
assaulted. 

Prevention and Treatment

"In America, drinking and drug abuse are bundled with high-risk
sex," said Susan Foster, CASA's Vice President and Director
of Policy Research and Analysis who directed the report. "Yet
despite the high coincidence of substance abuse and sexual
activity, remarkably few public or private prevention, treatment
and counseling programs deal with this connection."

CASA's report stresses the importance of Parent Power,
recommending that in exercising their influence, parents talk to
their children about the relationship between drinking, using
drugs and sex. The report also urges middle and high schools to
create comprehensive education programs that address the link
between substance abuse and sex.

The report also recommends that health, social service and
treatment providers create programs that address both
substance abuse and sex; that programs for victims of sexual
violence be sensitive to the possibility of substance abuse, and
that state and federal criminal justice and prison systems should
assess all sex offenders to identify treatment needs related to
alcohol and drug abuse.

The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at
Columbia University is the only national organization that brings
together under one roof all the professional disciplines needed to
study and combat all types of substance abuse as they affect all
aspects of society. CASA's missions are to: inform Americans
of the economic and social costs of substance abuse and its
impact on their lives; assess what works in prevention, treatment
and law enforcement; encourage every individual and institution
to take responsibility to combat substance abuse and addiction;
provide those on the front lines with tools they need to succeed;
and remove the stigma of substance abuse and replace shame
and despair with hope. CASA's staff of 70 includes 14
Doctorates, 19 Masters, 3 lawyers and 2 MDs.

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