Sex, Drugs and Alcohol

from: YOUNG EAGLES’ CHALLENGE: A Peer Education Training Manual for First Nations Youth on HIV/AIDS and Related Issues

The role of various substances can have a direct impact on whether a person can make a choice about whether to use protection or even say no to sex. Alcohol is a common drug that is legal in Canada and most other countries, yet when misused, can cause injury or even death. Alcohol along with other drugs, and what some call party or club drugs, can cause individuals to not have full control over their bodies. As stated earlier, there are also some people who use what is called the date rape drug to take advantage of individuals. There are also stories of girls who pass out at a party only to be taken advantage of by one or more guys.

Injection drug use is a very common cause of many of the HIV cases among First Nations people. The problem with injection drug use is that many of the drugs used (cocaine or heroin) are very easy to become addicted to. Some say that one try may be enough to get someone hooked. Trying to stop these types of drugs can be a very hard thing to do, and many people die from overdoses, violence and other things when they use hard drugs. Harm reduction is one way to try and support people to kick their habits or to not cause as much harm to themselves.

For some First Nations people who spend time in prison, they may try injection drugs while inside. The problem later, is that they may have HIV or Hepatitis and not know it, which has consequences for sexual partners. Sharing needles, as stated earlier, is a very high risk activity for HIV and Hepatitis C. Both of these have no cure. So the issue with substance use and HIV prevention is to have dialogue about the risks and to find ways to reduce or remove the risks for you and your partners, if you decide to use substances. As Youth Peer Educators, this section and manual is not about encouraging anything but options and accurate information to support better health for other youth. The approach is to confront reality and open dialogue so that all these issues can be better understood and youth will be armed with solid information which will hopefully lead to healthier choices.

The main purpose of this section was to raise awareness of related issues that affect whether or not youth will make healthy choices about what they do with their bodies. It is not enough to teach about HIV/AIDS and not consider all the things that may be going on in a youth's life. Peer pressure, puberty changes, substance use, childhood traumas and self-esteem issues all factor in. The issues raised in this section can be used to open up dialogue and give youth opportunities to talk about what really matters. It is important to realize that these can be very emotional and sensitive topics. Use your best judgment and it is strongly recommended that Youth Peer Educators make sure they have counsellors and/or teachers or parents from either the Steering Committee or through trusted organizations to help lead these discussions. Having professional counsellors is very important because Youth Peer Educators are not expected, as stated at the front of this manual to be trained counsellors.