Substance Use: Men vs Women

The American Addiction Centers point out some gender differences in connection with the consumption of illegal drugs. For instance, men are more likely to die of overdose and misuse of prescription than women. Women are more susceptible to craving and relapse. Women are also less likely to inject heroin than men and show the tendency to use smaller amounts in shorter intervals. Those women who do inject heroin, however, are more likely to additionally use prescrption drugs than men and are more at risk of dying from heroin overdose. Women also seem to begin using cocaine sooner and in larger amounts than men. 

Similarly, women start methamphetamine use earlier than men and become comparably more dependent on the substance. Fewer women than men die from prescription opioid overdoses, a trend that seems to be changing since death rates for women increased rapidly. Men are less likely to misuse prescription opioids to self-treat for reasons such as anxiety or stress while women are more likely to take them without a prescription to cope with pain. Generally, the risk of developing a substance use disorder is the same for both genders (via).

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photograph (Man in drug den, Durban, 1985) by Omar Badsha via