Sale of Sex for Drugs and Drugs for Sex: An Economic Context of Sexual Risk Behavior for STDs

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Abstract
Persons who participate in behaviors such as drug use and buying or selling sex are at elevated risk for sexually transmitted diseases (STD)/human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. To describe the economic structure supporting drug use and the buying and selling of sex services in two urban Houston communities. Residents of two Houston communities participated in street-intercept interviews to obtain information on sex and drug use behaviors. Many members of the population reported having bought or sold sex. A history of crack use significantly predicted the trading of sex for money and drugs, and sellers of sex were more likely to have engaged in recent high-risk sexual behavior than those who had never sold sex. The data are suggestive of an underground economy for the exchange of sex for drugs or money, the existence of which facilitates the spread of STDs in high-risk communities.