Drugs: how to keep it fun and safe!
Drugs are substances you can smoke, swallow, snort, drink or inject. Drugs have 1 thing in common: they all influence your consciousness. They change your feelings, your mood, your thinking.
Sexual risks associated with alcohol and drug use: top 5
- You get reckless. Alcohol and drugs can enhance your self-confidence, but you can also become reckless. When you're sober again, it may look like you've made the wrong choices.
- You can't get the condom on. It is often more difficult to get the condom on when under the influence of alcohol or drugs. There's also a chance the condom may slip off, because your penis doesn’t get hard so easily, or doesn’t stay hard. Or you might forget to have safe sex, or agree more easily to unsafe sex. Lots of people regret having unsafe sex afterwards.
- You are less focused on your boundaries. You are sometimes quicker to ignore your own wishes and boundaries when under the influence of alcohol or drugs. People can talk you into having sex more easily, or force you into it, when you’re under the influence. You may also be less alert to the wishes of your partner when you've taken something. Then you may overstep the other person’s boundaries.
- It's addictive. After a while, some people are unable to have great sex without alcohol and drugs. While under the influence, they’re less inhibited, can go on for longer or have better orgasms. ‘Sober’ sex seems boring to them, and sometimes they depend on the drugs to get turned on.
- You forget to use contraception. Under the influence of alcohol or drugs you might forget to take your birth control pill. Excessive use can also make you nauseous, and if you vomit, the pill may come out too or may not protect you completely against unwanted pregnancy.
Here's how to keep it fun and safe: 4 tips
Some people use alcohol and drugs to make contact with other people easier, or to get in the mood for sex. However, there are also disadvantages. For example, you may overstep your own or the other person’s boundaries. How do you keep it fun and safe?
- Decide for yourself how far you want to go. Even when you’ve used alcohol or drugs, you are still the one who determines how far you want to go.
- Stick to your resolution to have safe sex. Make sure you have a condom in your pocket. Make agreements with your sexual partner about safe sex and about your boundaries beforehand, when you’re still sober.
- Do you often forget to take the pill? Use some other form of contraception you don’t have to think about so often. Like a contraceptive injection, or an IUD. That way you are protected against an unwanted pregnancy.
- Keep on enjoying sober sex. Even though it’s nice to have sex under the influence, make sure you can still enjoy sober sex as well.
Effects of drugs
Each drug works in its own particular way. Each one comes with its own risks and affects your sexual behaviour differently. Read how each drug type works.