HIV/AIDS info

Substances: Drugs and Alcohol

Here are the topics concern with Drugs and Alcohol, click on the links below to read more about them.

Drugs 101
Needle Exchange Programs (NEP's)
Drinking and HIV/AIDS transmission risks
Some Common Recreational Drugs
Alcohol and Drug Links

Drugs 101

Using common, recreational substances or "club drugs," including smoking marijuana, is a cause for concern since it is linked to issues of safer-sex and HIV/AIDS prevention. You will find descriptions of some recreational drugs below along with their side effects, dangers, and how they can be linked to HIV/AIDS transmission.

Many of these mind-altering substances prevent you from thinking reasonably (especially in a club environment) and may lead you away from safer-sex and safer drug-use. In addition to this, drugs that are injected into the bloodstream carry high risks of infections through unsanitary needles (remember that cleaning needles with bleach doesn't kill Hepatitis C!). Another thing to remember while taking drugs is to drink a lot of water! Many drugs have dehydrating effects and can result in death if water is not consumed. The effects of any drug depend on several factors:

• The amount taken
• Past drug experience(s)
• How the drug is taken
• the circumstances under which the drug is taken (the place, your psychological and emotional stability, the presence of other people, the simultaneous use with alcohol or other drugs, etc.).

Needle Exchange Programs (NEP's)

If you do not have access to sanitary needles, they are available to you at the following locations in Toronto:

Toronto Public Health, The Works Ð Needle Exchange Program
277 Victoria St. (Yonge and Dundas),
Toronto
(416) 392-0521

Queen West Community Health Centre Toronto Raver Info Project (TRIP)
168 Bathurst St., Toronto
(416) 703-8482
Languages: English, Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin), and Portuguese
e-mail: queenwest@web.net
website: www.ctchc.com

Drinking and HIV/AIDS transmission risks

If you drink enough, all kinds of alcohol will produce the same damaging effect on your body, whether its bourbon, gin, vodka, or Mike's Hard and "not-so-hard" alcoholic beverages. Your body metabolizes approximately 1/3 ounce of alcohol per hour and nothing can alter this rate, not even coffee!

Alcohol is a poison that causes hangovers, your body's short-term reaction to its toxic and damaging effects. It leads to vomiting, nausea, and prevents you from balancing yourself. Your vision becomes blurry and you are unable to drive.

Since alcohol is fat and water soluble, it can affect all the organs and tissues in your body. It is linked to high development rates of tumours in the breast, liver, and mouth, as well as high blood pressure.

So if you're going to drink, know the risks involved and DRINK MODERATELY and RESPONSIBLY.

Alcohol destroys your liver and its ability to maintain stable blood-glucose levels to your brain and also causes Cirrhosis (permanent liver damage). It irritates the stomach lining causing ulcers and pain, among other problems. Drinking affects and harms your heart, brain, and liver causing muscle and nervous tissue damage and degeneration, anemia, heart problems, vision-impairment, and immune-system destruction. Alcohol intake also impairs judgement leading to unsafe sex and drug-use, as well as STI and HIV/AIDS transmission risks.

Alcohol and Drugs Links

Alcohol
Another Empty Bottle
www.alcoholismhelp.com

Be Responsible About Drinking (BRAD)
www.brad21.org

Drugs
Marijuana: Facts for Teens
www.nida.nih.gov/MarijBroch/Marijteens.html

Party Smarty Marty (drugs and alcohol info)
www.hafci.org/drugs/index.html

The decision is yours

There are many reasons why people uses substances. Some reasons include "getting away" from everyday problems, numbing depressing feelings, or feeling a part of the group when you're out in a bar or club environment. It's important to note that drugs and alcohol don't cure any social or psychological problems that you may be experiencing, though it may feel that way for a few hours. But, for whatever reason drugs and alcohol become a part of your life, know your risks so that your experiences and good-feelings may last a long time.