Drugs and prostitution have been documented to have a direct correlation.
Drug use tended to predate prostitution among low-level prostitutes with the connection most likely due to economic necessity. Low-level prostitutes tended to use depressants, specifically heroin, as the drug of choice. High-class prostitution showed that prostitution predates drug use with stimulants being the drug of choice.
A 1994 study among South London prostitutes showed links between sexual behavior, severity of dependence, and use of heroin, alcohol, and (to a lesser extent) cocaine.
Substance use
In the case of street prostitutes, estimates reveal that between 40 and 80 percent of all street prostitutes use substances. A study conducted by the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse in the UK, has suggested that as 90% of women that are involved with street prostitution in the UK are heroin or crack cocaine users. However, organisations such as the English Collective of Prostitutes argue that such a figure is "unreliable as a national statistic", claiming that it originated "from a 2004 study of 71 women, contacted through an outreach project in Bristol [...] who were particularly vulnerable", and that there "are no reliable recent national figures of drug use among sex workers" in the UK.
Prostitutes who reported a problem with drug use had begun the use of hard drugs at an earlier age (16.2 years old). Because of these early experiences with drugs, these people often begin sex work early in their lives. The average age for people who engage in sex work with substance use was five months younger than those who have had no problem with drugs (19 years and 2 months old, instead of 19 years 7 months old).
Drug use is also linked with outdoor cruising, which involves cruising around a street looking for clients, and independent drifting which means prostitution from personal phones or crack houses. 80% of these workers, who work in this sector, reported problems with substance use, in comparison to the 13%, who work in an indoor-associated escort-type agency, such as a sauna, massage parlor, flat or Escort agency.
According to a survey conducted by the Center for Problem-Orientated Policing, of the sex workers over 25 who had experience with drug use, more than 70% have taken cannabis, amphetamines, cocaine, crack cocaine and heroin. Furthermore, for sex workers at 16 to 19 years of age who have taken drugs, over 70% of them have experienced cannabis, cocaine, and crack cocaine.
Prostitutes also use mind-altering drugs such as alcohol, PCP, and LSD; in addition to psychoactive drugs such as diazepam and Pethidine. Researchers have found the choice of drug to be important to the prostitute in serving real or perceived functions. In the case of heroin, it may be used to adjust to a life which they resent, as it increases peoples ability to withstand emotional and physical stress. Cocaine and other stimulants have also been reported to increase the confidence of streetwalkers' ability to talk to strangers, and allow for these sex workers to maintain their energy levels. Moreover, New York call-girls consume alcohol as means of protecting themselves from insults, both physically and emotionally. In addition, certain drugs, such as MDMA, are known to increase their effects on sex. Someone who wishes to enhance their sexual experience may turn to drugs in order to increase endurance, intensify sensations, and prolong the encounter.
At the street level, pimps often use drugs to exert control over prostitutes. Many pimps are also drug dealers and attract and lure women with free drugs and the promise of a high-rolling lifestyle. Pimps intend on getting these women addicted to drugs, and often target those who are at increased risk of addiction. Women targeted in this way may have financial or emotional problems, come from dysfunctional families, or have a drug addiction already. Once addicted, they will continue seeking drugs from the pimp, who will then inform the girl that he cannot continue financing their addiction without compensation. Because of the addiction, a person will try to find ways in which to finance and satisfy their dependence, and in many cases their dependence impairs their judgments, making these people more susceptible to becoming sex workers, and thus that addiction keeps them enslaved to the industry. Moreover, although some sex workers begin work as a result of their addictions, some people turn to prostitution after drug addictions have ruined their lives, and left them with very few alternatives to support themselves otherwise.