Comorbidity and risk behaviors among drug users not in treatment.

In a sample of 700 remedy users, 64% evidenced comorbidity (i.e., coexisting substance use and psychiatric disorders). Robust relationships between the nearness of comorbidity and increased horizontals of risk behavior, such as needle sharing and trading sex for standard of value were revealed.

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Comorbidity (i.e., the coexistence of substance abuse and mental health disorders in the same individual--also known as dual diagnosis) has received increased attention in the mental health and substance abuse literature since it was first documented upon a large scale in the late 1980 and early 1990 (eg Heizer & Pryzbeck, 1988; Regier et al., 1990) This increased