HIV/AIDS AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE: ARE YOU AT RISK?

State of Mind

By now, people are aware that AIDS is sexually transmitted, but not
everyone recognizes the connection between HIV and substance use
disorders. HIV is sneaky. As many as 280,000 Americans are living
with the virus but don't know it. Of the new infections, the Centers
for Disease Control estimates that 30-40 percent of them result from
injection drug use.

Although sharing used needles provides a high-risk for HIV
transmission, the dangers go far beyond the issue of needles. People
who abuse alcohol, speed, crack cocaine, poppers or other
non-injected drugs are more likely than non-substance users to be HIV
positive. People with a history of non-injection substance abuse are
also more likely to engage in high-risk sexual activities.

The choice of substances affects the risk of acquiring HIV. For
example, crack abusers may have different social behaviors than
alcohol abusers. Among substance abusers who do not use injections,
HIV infection is not caused by drug use but by unsafe sexual behavior.

It is often believed that having unprotected sex while under the
influence of drugs or alcohol accounts for a high HIV risk among many
substance abusers. However, sexual networks and sexual mixing might
better explain risk. Many people who are in treatment for using drugs
or alcohol say they tended to select their sexual partners from
social networks of people like themselves. Their networks might
include people who have used needles, traded sex for money or drugs,
been victims of trauma or been incarcerated. All of these populations
may have higher rates of HIV infection, making transmission more likely.

Post traumatic stress disorder may also account for high sexual
risk-taking activities among female crack users due to the traumas
they encounter, whether violent (assault, rape) or nonviolent
(homelessness, loss of children, a serious accident).

In the state of Florida, 102,287 HIV cases were reported from July
1997 to April 2006, with 21,553 of those cases attributed to
injection drug use and male-to-male contact.

If you have been involved in risky behaviors - or even if you think
your partner may have been - you can gain considerable peace of mind
by getting yourself tested. It's free and it's anonymous.

For more information on substance abuse, HIV/AIDS and testing, you
can call Manatee Glens at 782-4169.

Olga Bennett, is an HIV/AIDS prevention specialist at Manatee Glens,
a nonprofit health care provider that delivers services from seven
Manatee County locations. Manatee Glens, which produces this biweekly
column, welcomes your questions about mental health and substance abuse matters.