Drugs and alcohol used to enhance sex, study shows

Young people are using drugs and alcohol in order to boost their sex lives, according to a study.

The research conducted on 1,341 16-35 year olds in nine European cities showed 28.6% of alcohol users used it to facilitate sexual encounters.

Among cocaine users, 26.2% used the drug to prolong sex and use of alcohol, cannabis, cocaine and ecstasy were all associated with sex before the age of 16.

Ecstasy users were more than nine times more likely to have had sex before the age of 16 than those who had not used the drug.

Authors wrote: 'A broader public health response which incorporates sex and substance use would provide new opportunities for substance use prevention and improvements in its sexual health.'

BioMedCentral Public Health (2008) 8:155