The UK has one of the worst reputations for binge drinking and underage sex but there are striking similarities between countries, a study found.
A third of 16 to 35-year-old men and 23% of women questioned said they drank to increase their chance of sex.
The study – of 1,341 young people in nine countries including the UK – is published in BMC Public Health.
The report goes on to make the link between drinking, drug use and regretted sex:
Drunkenness and drug use were found to be strongly associated with an increase in risk taking behaviour and feeling regretful about having sex .
Those who had been drunk in the past four weeks were more likely to have had five or more partners, sex without a condom and to have regretted sex after drink or drugs in the past 12 months.
Cannabis, cocaine or ecstasy use was linked to similar consequences.
Channel 4’s website taking the story from PA have a slightly different take on the story:
Teenagers and young people are deliberately getting high on drink and drugs to enhance their sexual pleasure, a study suggests.
An “epidemic” of recreational drug use and binge drinking is exposing millions of youngsters to drugs, which increases their chance of unsafe sex, experts warned.
The Metro give us the parocial take on this:
British teens are deliberately taking cocaine, ecstasy and cannabis to hit new sexual peaks, research has shown.
More than a quarter (26%) of youngsters taking cocaine said they used it to prolong sex while drug use in general was linked to having multiple partners, experts warned.
So far the survey isn’t on the BMC Public Health website.
Update – The BBC return to the story suggesting that “more than 50% of young people in Liverpool admit to having taken cocaine”
Update (2) – The abstract from the research is here and full paper here.
