NUMBER OF SEX PARTNERS AND CRACK COCAINE USE - IS CRACK AN INDEPENDENT MARKER FOR HIV RISK BEHAVIOR

Prior research on the ''sex for crack'' phenomenon has described high behavioral risks for HIV transmission among crack-dependent women who have sex with multiple partners in order to obtain the drug. But resea rch has not shown that the number of sex partners is elevated for crac k users overall, regardless of the circumstances or intensity of use. In addition, crack is only one of several elements comprising high-ris k lifestyles of many users; thus it cannot be concluded from prior res earch that crack use itself is an independent marked for risky sexual behavior, In this sample of Los Angeles arrestees interviewed between 1988 and 1991, more sex partners were reported by women and men who ha d smoked crack in the past year than by those who had not, These findi ngs were not an artifact of demographic differences between crack user s and nonusers or of the association between crack use and other high- risk behaviors, It may therefore be important to widen the targeting o f HIV preventive education to include users of crack cocaine regardles s of the intensity or circumstances of use.