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HIV/AIDS

Brief Description

Drug abuse and addiction have always been inextricably linked to HIV/AIDS. For many years, people often believed that this connection was due only to injection drug use and needle sharing. However, this way of thinking greatly underestimates the impact that drug use and abuse can have on the spread of HIV/AIDS through the risky behaviors it engenders. Drug and alcohol intoxication affects judgment and can lead to risky sexual behavior that puts participants at risk of contracting or transmitting HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. In addition, drug use and abuse can facilitate the progress of HIV infection by further compromising the immune system.

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Learn about how NIDA’s AIDS Research Program supports an innovative and multidisciplinary HIV/AIDS research portfolio.

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Past information on many drugs of abuse is available on our Archives site.

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