Drug-use patterns among men who have sex with men presenting for alcohol treatment: differences in ethnic and sexual identity.

ABSTRACT

Two important gaps in our current understanding of drug and alcohol use among men who have sex with men (MSM) are that, first, little is known about the extent of drug- and alcohol-use disorders among MSM and, second, how these may vary among MSM who differ by ethnic/racial or sexual identity. This article is a descriptive study of the alcohol- and drug-use patterns and alcohol and drug diagnoses in an ethnically and sexually diverse sample of treatment-seeking MSM whose primary diagnosis is either alcohol abuse or alcohol dependence. The severity of alcohol problems did not vary by either ethnic or sexual identity, although the types of drugs that were used by participants did. African Americans reported a significantly higher number of drinks per drinking day compared with those in the other ethnic categories.Gay-identified men and those identified as either non-Hispanic Whites or Hispanic/Latino were significantly more likely to have used stimulant drugs (amphetamine or methamphetamine) in the past 6 months, and non-Hispanic Whites were less likely to have used marijuana compared with the other ethnic groups. A very high rate of comorbidity of drug- and alcohol-use disorders was found in this sample of ethnically diverse MSM. These results have important implications for the design of effective treatment interventions.