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The Context of HIV Risk Among Drug Users and Their Sexual Partners

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<strong>Drug</strong> Use <strong>and</strong> <strong>HIV</strong> <strong>Risk</strong> <strong>Among</strong><br />

Gay <strong>and</strong> Bisexual Men: An<br />

Overview<br />

Robert J. Battjes<br />

<strong>The</strong> acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic was first<br />

identified among gay <strong>and</strong> bisexual men, <strong>and</strong> men who have sex with men<br />

still comprise the majority <strong>of</strong> persons with AIDS in the United States.<br />

Since the inception <strong>of</strong> the epidemic, 60 percent <strong>of</strong> AIDS cases reported to<br />

the Centers for Disease Control <strong>and</strong> Prevention (CDC) have occurred<br />

among men who reported having sex with men, with 54 percent <strong>of</strong> AIDS<br />

cases occurring in men who reported sex with men but no injecting drug<br />

use, <strong>and</strong> 6 percent <strong>of</strong> cases occurring in men reporting dual risk behaviors<br />

<strong>of</strong> sex with men <strong>and</strong> injecting drug use (Centers for Disease Control <strong>and</strong><br />

Prevention 1993). <strong>The</strong> National Institute on <strong>Drug</strong> Abuse (NIDA) is the<br />

lead Federal agency for research on drug abuse aspects <strong>of</strong> AIDS. Thus,<br />

NIDA is concerned with AIDS associated with injecting drug use <strong>and</strong><br />

also with the impact <strong>of</strong> noninjecting drug use on sexual risk behaviors<br />

<strong>and</strong> disease progression.<br />

This section <strong>of</strong> the monograph focuses on the relationship between drug<br />

use <strong>and</strong> <strong>HIV</strong> risk among gay <strong>and</strong> bisexual men.’ In planning this section<br />

<strong>of</strong> the technical review, Battjes, Sloboda, <strong>and</strong> Grace recognized the<br />

importance <strong>of</strong> focusing on two distinct subgroups <strong>of</strong> gay <strong>and</strong> bisexual<br />

men: noninjecting drug users (non-IDUs) whose drug use may contribute<br />

to their sexual <strong>HIV</strong> risk, <strong>and</strong> gay <strong>and</strong> bisexual men who also were IDUs.<br />

Ostrow was asked to focus on the first group, non-IDUs. Unfortunately,<br />

with regard to the second group (gay <strong>and</strong> bisexual IDUs), little research<br />

has been conducted except for that focused on injecting drug use among<br />

male prostitutes. <strong>The</strong>refore, Waldorf was asked to focus on drug use <strong>and</strong><br />

<strong>HIV</strong> risk among male prostitutes. It was decided to briefly highlight the<br />

<strong>HIV</strong> risk <strong>of</strong> other gay <strong>and</strong> bisexual IDUs in this section introduction.<br />

In addition to the two chapters in this section, the chapter by Rotheram-<br />

Borus <strong>and</strong> colleagues in the section on <strong>HIV</strong> risk among adolescents<br />

focuses on high-risk gay <strong>and</strong> bisexual adolescent males who chronically<br />

abuse drugs, <strong>of</strong>ten including injecting drug use, <strong>and</strong> engage in sex to<br />

obtain drugs <strong>and</strong> as a means <strong>of</strong> survival.<br />

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