• If you need transportation, arrange ahead of time for a designated driver or save money for a cab or bus fare.
• If you’re walking, don’t walk alone – you may be in easy target for assault.
• If you want to combine sex and drugs, stick to people who you know will share your concerns about safer sex.
• If you are using or injecting drugs, or are thinking of trying drugs, be sure have a lot of have a lot of information about the drugs and their effects before they go into your body. Even then, you may not be prepared for what happens – many recreational and/or injection drugs affect people in different ways. In the case of illegal drugs, you can never be sure of what you’re getting.
• If you are going to use drugs, it is important to do so in a safe environment with people you trust.
• In the case of ‘injected drugs, if you feel you must use a non-sterile needle, clean it between users by immersing it in bleach, and then thoroughly rinsing it with water. Sharing needles is a known way of transmitting and/or receiving HIV, other STDs, and blood borne diseases such is Hepatitis C.

Know how to reduce the risk of a drug overdose. Try to be sure of what you are taking and how potent it is. If you don’t know, cut your usual dose in half and do it in two hits. If you haven’t used for a while, use less than usual. Take drugs where someone is close or you can be found quickly. If you see someone overdose, call 911immediately.  (adapted from Jack Hart, Gay Sex – A manual for Men Who Love Men, and the Survival Manual, Watari Research Association)

Adapted from the document ‘Your Everyday Health Guide: A Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Resource’; Copyright 1998 LGBT Health Association