REPORT: TEENS' USE OF ALCOHOL, DRUGS INCREASES LIKELIHOOD OF SEX

WASHINGTON - Teens who drink or take drugs are more likely to have sex and
at a younger age - as well as have several partners - than teens who don't
use alcohol or drugs, according to a report published today.

Teens who are 14 and younger and drink are twice as likely to have sex than
those who don't in the same age group. The risk is doubled for 14-year-old
teens using drugs, said the report from the Center on Addiction and
Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University.

Older teens who drink are seven times as likely to have intercourse than
nondrinking teens, and are twice as likely to have it with four or more
partners. Drug-using older teens are five times as likely to have sex than
nonusers, and three times as likely to have it with four or more partners.

"While it's 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," said Joseph Califano Jr., president of the CASA.

The CASA findings are based on national data of more than 34,000 teenagers.

In all, 63 percent of teenagers who use alcohol have had sex, compared with
26 percent of teens who don't drink. About 72 percent of teens who use
drugs have had sex, compared with 36 percent who don't use drugs.