Illicit Drugs and Sex

Narcotics and tranquilizers are downers and they affect the sexual interest of people who use them in the same way i.e. less interest
Amphetamines and cocaine stimulate sexual desire but impair orgasm, making sex very frustrating. With regular use, desire for sex is reduced

Heroin and morphine are often responsible for sexual dysfunction
Nearly 50% of male addicts report impotency and many female addicts are inorgasmic
All report low levels of sexual interest
Similar dysfunction is reported for crack or free basing cocaine users

Marijuana and Sex

Result is unpredictable
Some say it enhances lovemaking as it increase blood levels of phenylethylamine, a neurotransmitter associated with love and lust
Yet marijuana makes some people withdraw socially or become anxious or irritable which does not enhance sex

Sex, Injection Drugs and Power

Issues of power imbalance appear to first emerge with injection initiation.
Males gain control of the initiation by directly injecting females after first injecting themselves. Frequently, females fail to learn how to inject themselves and become injection dependent on other injection drug users (IDUs), often requiring help to inject throughout their injection use.
This may lead females to feel that they do not possess the power to insist that injection equipment not be shared or that equipment be cleaned between users.

Drugs and Safe Sex

Similarly, problems of gender-based power imbalance are observed in sexual relationships with respect to the adoption of risky sexual behaviours.
Often, if the male decides not to use a condom the female accedes, possibly because she feels she does not have the power to object or because she wants to confirm and/or create trust and intimacy in the relationship.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 11th, 2005 at 6:31 am and is filed under Drug Addiction, Drug Rehab. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.