Love on drugs: The dangers of teens combining sex with intoxication

Archer Herring and Tanya Turchyn

March 8, 2019

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, “almost one million adolescents – or 19 percent of those who have had sexual intercourse – become pregnant each year” and those who get pregnant are most often those who tend to use drugs while doing sexual activity. Infographic by: Tanya Turchyn

When mixed with sexual relations, drugs, even common ones like alcohol and marijuana, can lead to spontaneous choices and a lack of judgment that may change a person’s or people’s futures. The reduction of cognitive logic leads to a higher possibility of unwanted pregnancy, STD and STI transmission, as well as nonconsensual sexual relations and rape, according to CRC Health.

One of the questions, receiving 1,004 responses, on the annual Cougar Press sex survey asked, “Have you ever participated in a sexual activity while under the influence?” Out of the 1,004 responses 212 (21.1 percent) students said they have engaged in sexual activity while under the influence, but 300 responses (29.9 percent) from students say they have not. The other 492 students (49 percent) are not sexually active.

With the data presented, another question arises — how does students’ use of drugs and alcohol affect their sex lives and relationships? Drugs affect people’s cognitive ability to decipher the logic of their decisions, as according to the US National Library of Medicine, drugs create “impairments in decision-making, characterised by a tendency to choose the immediate reward at the expense of severe negative future consequences.”

Seniors Tyler Sehon and Drew Worthy commented their opinions on the subject. Sehon said, “It’s unsafe because people can be unconscious and not know what’s going on. It’s not the best idea.” Worthy continued on the subject by saying, “When intoxicated, people often regret their actions.”

This topic gains more prevalence to VHS personally, considering that 41 percent of the sexually active students at VHS revealed that they have participated in sexual activity while using drugs. When interviewed, an anonymous VHS student revealed that they have participated in sexual activity while on a drug, also commenting that they suspect many teenagers have done the same for validation from others and to be less self-conscious.

Another anonymous student who revealed they have done the same, commented that they think it’s a common behavior among teens because it makes sexual relations more interesting and less pressured.

Despite the immediate reward that drugs combined with sex may provide, they leave a lot of room for mistakes and regrettable decisions. Stay safe!