Year: 2013
Type: preprint
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: We estimate the effect of methamphetamine use on risky sexual behavior using California data on amphetamine-related hospital admissions and syphilis diagnoses from 1994 to 2000. Public health officials have cited methamphetamine control as a tool with which to decrease sexually transmitted infections, based on previous research that finds a strong positive correlation between methamphetamine use and risky sexual behavior. However, the observed correlation may not be causal, as both methamphetamine use and risky sexual behavior could be driven by a third factor, such as a preference for risky behavior. To circumvent this possible endogeneity, we use a large exogenous supply shock in the U.S. methamphetamine market that occurred in mid-1995 and a later supply shock stemming from the 1996 Methamphetamine Control Act. While we find that the supply shocks had large negative effects on methamphetamine use, we find no evidence that these decreases in methamphetamine use decreased syphilis rates.
Authors: Hugo M. Mialon, Erik Nesson, Michael C. Samuel
Language: English
Topic: HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk
Subfield: Epidemiology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3153942919