Fact Sheet About Gay/Lesbian Substance Abuse

FACT SHEET ABOUT GAY/LESBIAN SUBSTANCE ABUSE:

Alcohol and drug abuse affects an estimated 20-30% of the gay and lesbian population – a rate that is two to three times higher than the general population.

Alcohol and other drug use contributes to increased risk of HIV and AIDS, and other health and safety problems including drunk driving fatalities, date rape, and verbal and physical abuse.

In the gay and lesbian community, the absence of significant alternatives to bars and parties contributes to the dependency on alcohol.

Anxiety, alienation, depression, and low self-esteem among gay men and lesbians increase their risk for substance abuse.

The use of cocaine, amphetamines, and other drugs is associated with high levels of sexual risk taking. Nearly 10% of gay and bisexual men responding to a Michigan Department of Community Health survey reported that they had engaged in unprotected sex when they were high or drunk.

Gay and bisexual men who use speed have much higher seroprevalence than either heterosexual injection drug users or gay and bisexual men who do not inject drugs.

When compared with non-users, speed users reported more unsafe receptive anal intercourse, more condom breakage, and more unprotected sex with HIV-positive partners.

In a study of gay male adolescents, 68% reported alcohol use (with 26% using alcohol once or more per week), and 44% reported drug use (with 8% considering themselves drug-dependent). Among young lesbians, 83% had used alcohol, 56% had used drugs, and 11% had used crack/cocaine in the three months preceding the study.

In a 1992 survey of San Francisco lesbians and bisexual women, 30% had used drugs other than alcohol, one in seven women had experienced violence when drunk or high, and 29% reported sexual abuse.

Sources: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Michigan Department of Community Health, Journal of Addictive Diseases, Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, San Francisco Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Substance Abuse Planning Group