Number of Sex Partners and Crack Cocaine Use: Is Crack an Independent Marker for HIV Risk Behavior?

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Abstract
Prior research on the “sex for crack” phenomenon has described high behavioral risks for HIV transmission among crack-dependent women who have sex with multiple partners in order to obtain the drug. But research has not shown that the number of sex partners is elevated for crack users overall, regardless of the circumstances or intensity of use. In addition, crack is only one of several elements comprising high-risk lifestyles of many users; thus it cannot be concluded from prior research that crack use itself is an independent marker for risky sexual behavior. In this sample of Los Angeles arrestees interviewed between 1988 and 1991, more sex partners were reported by women and men who had smoked crack in the past year than by those who had not. These findings were not an artifact of demographic differences between crack users and nonusers or of the association between crack use and other high-risk behaviors. It may therefore be important to widen the targeting of HIV preventive education to include users of crack cocaine regardless of the intensity or circumstances of use.

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