Methamphetamine use and HIV risk among substance-abusing offenders in California

Recent epidemiological surveys of illicit substance use show a particularly high prevalence of methamphetamine use in the western and southwestern United States-most notably California. Moreover, in their analysis of 1995 Drug Use Forecasting data, Anglin and colleagues (1998) found that methamphetamine was a preferred substance among California arrestees. The present study uses data from 807 state prison inmates in California (32% of whom reported using methamphetamine prior to incarceration) to examine the associations between methamphetamine use and HIV risk behaviors. Methamphetamine users in this sample were significantly more likely than nonusers to have injected drugs during the six months prior to their current incarceration. Among injectors, however, injection-related risks (such as dirty needles and needle sharing, etc.) were not significantly associated with methamphetamine use. However, past six-month sex-related risks were dramatically higher for methamphetamine users. These patterns persisted even after controlling for background differences between the two groups. The results of this study underscore the importance of addressing the higher sex-related HIV/AIDS risk among methamphetamine users undergoing prison-based drug treatment.