ALCOHOL, EARLY SEX LINKED

WASHINGTON (AP) - Teenagers who drink or take drugs are much more likely to
have sex at a younger age and with several partners than are teens who
don't use alcohol or drugs, says a study released yesterday.

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-olds using drugs, said the report from the
Centre on Addiction and Substance Abuse 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 - sexual intercourse or drinking and drug abuse," said
Joseph Califano Jr., president of the Centre on Addition and Substance Abuse.

He said the organization also is concerned about sexually transmitted
diseases. "Condom use is erratic, at best," he told a news conference.

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

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

Young people in general have more sex today than 30 years ago.

In a study from 1970, less than 5 per cent of the 15-year-old girls
questioned had engaged in sex. In 1972 the number for boys the same age was
20 per cent. In 1997, said the CASA analysis, 38 per cent of the
15-year-old girls and 45 per cent of the 15-year-old boys had had sex.