Abstract
Black men who have sex with men (BMSM) are highest risk for HIV seroconversion in the United States. Little attention has been paid to marijuana use among BMSM and potential for HIV risk. A sample of 202 BMSM was generated through respondent driven sampling. The relationship between differential marijuana use and both HIV risk behavior and social network factors were examined using weighted logistic regression. Of the BMSM in this sample 60.4 % use marijuana in general and 20.8 % use marijuana as sex-drug. General marijuana use was significantly associated with participation in group sex (AOR 3.50; 95 % CI 1.10–11.10) while marijuana use as a sex drug was significantly associated with both participation in condomless sex (AOR 2.86; 95% CI 1.07–7.67) and group sex (AOR 3.39; 95% CI 1.03–11.22). Respondents with a moderate or high perception of network members who use marijuana were more likely to use marijuana both in general and as a sex-drug. Network member marijuana use, while not associated with risk behaviors, is associated with individual marijuana use and individual marijuana use in the context of sex is associated with risk practices. Targeting interventions towards individuals and their respective networks that use marijuana as a sex drug may reduce HIV risk.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Millet GA, Peterson JL, Flores SA, Hart TA, Jeffries WL, Patrick A. Comparisons of disparities and risks of HIV infection in black and other men who have sex with men in Canada, UK, and USA: a meta-analysis. Lancet. 2012;380:341–8.
Valleroy LA, MacKellar DA, Karon JM, et al. HIV prevalence and associated risks in young men who have sex with men. JAMA. 2000;284(2):198–204.
Harawa NT, Greenland S, Bingham TA, Johnson DF, Cochran SD, Cunningham WE. Associations of race/ethnicity with HIV prevalence and HIV-related behaviors among young men who have sex with men in 7 urban centers in the United States. JAIDS. 2000;35(5):526–36.
Millet GA, Flores SA, Peterson JL, Bakeman R. Explaining disparities in HIV infection among black and white men who have sex with mean: a meta-analysis of HIV risk behaviors. AIDS. 2007;21(15):2083–91.
Ostrow DG, Plankey MW, Cox C, et al. Specific sex-drug combinations contribute to the majority of recent HIV seroconversions among MSM in MACS. JAIDS. 2009;51(3):349–55.
Scivoletto S, Tsuji RK, Najjar CH, de Queiroz S, de Andrade AG, Gattaz WF. Use of psychoactive substances and sexual risk behavior in adolescents. Subst Use Misuse. 2002;37:381–98.
Bellis MA, Hughes K, Calafat A, Juan M, Ramon A, Rodriguez JA. Sexual uses of alcohol and drugs and the associated health risks: a cross-sectional study of young people in nine European cities. BMC Public Health. 2008;8:155.
Kingree JB, Braithwaite R, Woodring T. Unprotected sex as a function of alcohol and marijuana use among adolexent detainees. J Adolesc Health. 2000;27:1179–85.
Mertz KJ, Finelli L, Levine WC, Mognoni RC, Berman SM, Fishbein M. Gonorrhea in male adolescents and young adults in Newark, New Jersey: implications of risk factors and patient preferences for prevention strategies. Sex Transm Dis. 2000;27:201–7.
Brodbeck J, Matter M, Moggi F. Association between cannabis use and sexual risk behavior among young heterosexual adults. AIDS Behav. 2006;10:599–605.
Kandel DB. Marijuana users in young adulthood. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1984;41(2):200–9.
Service SK, Blower SM. HIV transmission in sexual networks: an empirical analysis. Proc R Soc Lond B. 1995;260:237–44.
Jessor R. Risk behavior in adolescence: a psychosocial framework for understanding and action. J Adolesc Health. 1991;12:597–605.
CDC. HIV among African American gay and bisexual men. http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/risk/racialethnic/bmsm/facts/#refd (2015). Accessed 2015 August 28.
Schneider J, Michaels S, Bouris A. Family network proportion and HIV risk among black men who have sex with men. JAIDS. 2012;61(5):627–35.
Ramirez-Valles J, Heckathorn DD, Vazquez R, Diaz RM, Campbell RT. From networks to populations: the development and application of respondent-driven sampling among IDUs and Lation gay men. AIDS Behav. 2005;9(4):387–402.
Mimiaga MJ, Goldhammer H, Belanoff C, Tetu AM, Mayer KH. Men who have sex with men: perception about sexual risk, HIV and sexually transmitted disease testing, and provider communication. Sex Transm Dis. 2007;34(2):113–9.
Johnston LG, Khanam R, Reza M. The effectiveness of resondent-driven sampling for recruiting males who have sex with males in Dhaka, Bangladesh. AIDS Behav. 2008;12(2):294–304.
Iguchi MY, Ober AJ, Berry SH. Simultaneous recruitment of drug users and men who have sex with men in the United States and Russia using respondent-driven sampling: sampling methods and implications. J Urban Health. 2009;86(1):S5–31.
Goel S, Salganik MJ. Respondent-driven sampling as Markov chain Monte Carlo. Stat Med. 2009;28(17):2202–29.
Gile KJ, Handcock KS. Respondent-driven sampling: an assessment of current methodology. Sociol Methodol. 2010;40(1):285–327.
Wylie JL, Jolly AM. Understanding recruitment: outcomes associated with alternate methods for seed selection in respondent driven sampling. BMC Med Res Methodol. 2013;13(93):1–11.
Magnani R, Sabin K, Saidel T, Heckathorn D. Review of sampling hard-to-reach and hidden populations for HIV surveillance. AIDS. 2005;19(suppl 2):S67–72.
Schneider JA, Cornwell B, Ostrow D, et al. Network mixing and network influences most linked to HIV infection and risk behavior in a Black men who have sex with men HIV epidemic. Am J Public Health. 2013;103(1):e28–36.
Gilman SE, Cochran SD, Mays VM, Hughes M, Ostrow DG, Kessler RC. Risk of psychiatric disorders among individuals reporting same-sex partners in the National Comorbidity Survey. Am J Public Health. 2001;91(6):933–9.
Ostrow DG, Plankey MW, Cox C. Specific sex drug combination contriubte to the majority of recent HIV seroconvesions among MSM in the MACS. JAIDS. 1999;51(3):349–55.
Ostrow DR, Stall RC. Alcohol, tobacco, and drug use among gay and bisexual men. In: Wolitski RJ, Stall R, Valdiserri RO, editors. Unequal opportunity : health disparities affecting gay and bisexual men in the United States. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2008.
Prejean J, Song R, Hernandez A, et al. Estimated HIV incidence in the United States, 2006-2009. PLoS ONE. 2011;6(8):e17502.
Compton WM, Grant BF, Colliver JD, Glantz MD, Stinson FS. Prevalence of marijuana use disorders in the United States: 1991-1992 and 2001-2002. JAMA. 2004;291(17):2114–21.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank the study participants for their participation. Research reported in this publication was supported by NCRR U54 RR023560, R01DA033875 and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number UL1 TR000430.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Consortia
Corresponding author
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Morgan, E., Skaathun, B., Michaels, S. et al. Marijuana Use as a Sex-Drug is Associated with HIV Risk Among Black MSM and Their Network. AIDS Behav 20, 600–607 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-015-1195-7
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-015-1195-7