The link between drug use and HIV/AIDS among young people in ...

Alcohol was the first drug consumed by respondents with a total number of 8 (17.7%) reporting
having consumed alcohol by age 5; more than 50% had consumed alcohol by the time they became
teenagers and at least 95.6% had consumed alcohol by the age of 18 or adulthood.
Respondents indicated an average age of 5 for first use of cigarettes and as early as age 1 for
marijuana. However, the general reported age for first use among respondents was 10 years for
cigarettes and 8 years for marijuana.
From Figure 3 below, 45 (64.3%) of the total respondents indicated that they had engaged in
unprotected sex in their lifetime while 25 (35.7%) reported that they had never had unprotected sex
implying that they had always used a condom during sex or that they had never had sex in their
lifetime.
From the line graph, 15 (21.1%) reported that they had not used a condom while having sex under the
influence of drugs.
Of the respondents who had engaged in unprotected sex, 1/3 had not used a condom.
Figure 3: Line graph depicting risky sexual behavior of participants (n)
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Unprotected
sex
Unprotected
sex under
influence of
drugs
Yes
No
45 25
15 56
Unprotected sex
Unprotected sex
under influence of
drugs
Figure 4 indicates that at least 93% of respondents believed that they had some knowledge as to the
consequences of drug use. Nonetheless, only 24 (33.3%) indicated that they felt well informed as to
the consequences of drug use. Comparatively, the bar graph indicates that more respondents (45.1%)
felt they were more knowledgeable and well informed as to the consequences of risky sexual behavior.
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