While it doesn’t take a genius to know that you’re more likely to act like a sloppy idiot when you’re drunk, scientists have also concluded that people are more reckless about having sloppy, unprotected sex after just a few drinks. A new study published in Addiction Journal has proven that alcohol makes you more likely to have unsafe sex. The jury is still out on whether it makes you more likely to have sloppy, unprotected sex with someone you’ll regret doing it with in the morning, but most people can gauge from personal experience that that’s true as well. To put the theory to the test, scientists in Canada conducted 12 experiments in which one group of people consumed alcohol, while the other group stayed sober. A blood alcohol level of just 0.1 (the legal limit is 0.8) was enough to make participants show a five percent increase in their willingness to partake in unprotected sex. The study was ultimately conducted to gauge alcohol’s effects on spreading HIV and AIDS. Dr. J. Rehm, the Principal Investigator of the study, concluded, “Drinking has a causal effect on the likelihood to engage in unsafe sex, and thus should be included as a major factor in preventive efforts for HIV.” He continued, “This result also helps explain why people at risk often show this behavior despite better knowledge: alcohol is influencing their decision processes.” So even if you know better, the alcohol might be convincing you otherwise.
