The transfer of drugs through bodily fluids has been controversial, cutting across diverse professionals, from the general public to recreational drug users, forensics experts, healthcare professionals, and science researchers.
The questions “Can drugs be transferred through bodily fluids” or “Can drugs be transmitted sexually” have created a buzz on our media platforms, piquing the interest of many who seek to understand the mechanisms by which drugs travel through bodily fluids.
This article will shed light on the pathways through which drugs can be transferred via bodily fluids, such as saliva, semen, sweat, blood, and urine; targeting the implications of various mechanisms and scenarios through which the transfer occurs and the potential benefits and downsides of these mechanisms.
If this topic is within your scope of curiosity, then you are in the right place.
Bodily fluids as vectors
Transfer through intimacy
The conventional vectors suspected to facilitate the transmission of drugs between individuals are saliva, semen, and vaginal fluids.
This is often through kissing, sexual activity, or other intimate interactions that allow for the exchange of saliva, semen, vaginal fluids, or, in rare circumstances, sweat. There have been numerous scenarios where recreational drug users have unwittingly transferred drugs to one another after sharing intimate contact.
A similar question on whether you can fail a drug test from your boyfriend’s sperm is addressed here.
1. Saliva
For instance, a Canadian pole vaulter, Shawn Barber, reportedly tested positive for cocaine at the Edmonton Canadian championships, where he set a national record. The 22-year-old world champion defended his title, claiming he inadvertently absorbed the drug by kissing a woman he had arranged to have sex with online on the eve of the national competition.
Luckily, his lawyers did a superb job at the doping tribunal to keep him from a four-year suspension from competing. This was after the woman testified to having snorted cocaine moments before meeting Barber at a designated hotel room.
In another similar scenario, a French tennis player named Richard Gasquet tested positive for minute traces of cocaine in his system, leading to a two-and-a-half-month ban from the circuit by the International Tennis Federation (IFT).
Gasquet claimed to have ingested cocaine from kissing a woman he had met at a nightclub in Miami on the eve of the anti-doping test in March of 2009. He was, fortunately, exonerated from the short-lived suspension by the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) that rejected an appeal from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the IFT, gunning for a 1-2 year ban.
Now it is considerable that both Gasquet and Barber escaped heavy sanctions based on cocaine not making the list of doping drugs frequently abused by athletes, among other reasons. In addition, Gasquet took a urine test, while Shawn took a hair follicle test after testing positive in the urine test.
This begs the question, how much cocaine does one have to ingest from locking lips with a recent user to actually appear in the recipient’s doping tests?
Dr. David Juurlink from Sunnybrook Research Institute, the consulting healthcare professional at Shawn’s case, remarked, “It’s very difficult to imagine a scenario in which the exchange of saliva through kissing transfers from one person to another a sufficient amount of cocaine to result in a positive urine test.”
He added, “I can’t say it’s impossible, but it sounds extraordinarily improbable to me.”
Knowing the semantics of a hair test and the accuracy of revealing patterns of drug use, Shawn voluntarily taking the hair test significantly backed the plausibility of inadvertent ingestion. In addition, considering the meager amounts of benzoylecgonine (cocaine metabolites) found in the urine samples of these athletes, it was clear they were not regular cocaine users.
2. Semen
In other research, scientists have found that medication and drugs used by men can indeed appear in their semen to some degree.
According to a developmental and reproductive toxicology report, chemical concentrations in semen are comparable to or lower than in blood concentrations. Although, traces of the chemical would be 3-5 magnitudes lower in the woman’s blood than in the man’s.
These chemicals can be absorbed through the vaginal epithelium – vaginal walls have highly absorbent tissues, and thus why some women try getting drunk through vodka-soaked tampons.
But here’s the catch – the amount of semen produced during intercourse is too small that chances of any potential chemical transfer are slim. And if there is, the leakage of semen after sexual intercourse does not allow for sufficient contact time with the vaginal epithelium to get absorbed.
It is, therefore, unlikely that drugs present in semen would be completely absorbed through the vagina. Limited research is available on the transfer of drugs through semen via other sexual means, such as oral or anal sex.
Transfer through pregnancy
Can drugs be transferred from mother to fetus during pregnancy? Absolutely!
Research has shown that drugs, whether illicit or medicinal, can pass from the mother’s bloodstream to the fetus through the placenta. This is medically known as a transplacental transfer.
Just like oxygen and nutrients required for fetal growth and development are carried in the bloodstream across the placenta, so are drug metabolites transferred. As the pregnant mother develops a drug dependence and addiction, the fetus also gets addicted.
However, the effects (high) of the drugs on the woman are different from how the same drugs would affect her unborn baby.
Effects of drug abuse on the fetus
- Cocaine can lead to miscarriage, premature detachment of the placenta, high blood pressure, preterm delivery of the fetus, and stillbirth.
- Marijuana leads to cognitive and behavioral defects in the baby.
- Meth and its constituents can cause miscarriage and preterm deliveries.
- Heroin and other opiates can trigger long-term withdrawal symptoms in the baby, posing a high risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
Some notable withdrawal symptoms of babies born to heroin-addicted mothers include jitteriness, muscle tremors, trouble sleeping or feeding, and apnea.
- Generally, babies born to drug-addicted mothers have low-birth weight and are at a high risk of SIDS and developmental delays.
A mother who stops drug use in her first trimester has a higher chance of carrying the pregnancy to term and delivering a healthy baby.
Transfer through breastfeeding
Substances ingested by a breastfeeding mother can also be transferred to the baby through breast milk. Drugs and alcohol predispose the infant to health and developmental defects.
However, the effects of drug abuse on the baby vary depending on the type of drug used, the mother’s metabolism, frequency and amount of drug consumption, and the baby’s age and health status.
Below are some key points to consider when dealing with matters of substance abuse and breastfeeding:
Timing is of essence.
The timing of drug use in relation to breastfeeding is crucial. When drugs are taken shortly before breastfeeding, there will be higher levels of substance concentration in the breast milk, leading to greater exposure for the infant.
It is recommended to wait 24 hours before expressing your breast milk, not to feed your infant but dispose of it since the first stream after doing drugs will contain the highest metabolites. Alternatively, consider breastfeeding before doing drugs. This, however, is only applicable to one-time drug users.
A breastfeeding mother struggling with a drug addiction should seek professional help for safe and monitored breastfeeding.
Drug type matters
Certain drugs can interfere with the baby’s central nervous system, while others can have short-lived effects on the baby.
Alcohol, for instance, is known to reduce milk supply and cause irritability, feeding, and sleeping problems for your infant. While there is no safe level of alcohol consumption when lactating, it is recommended to avoid consumption in the first month of lactation until breastfeeding is well established.
Nonetheless, lactating mothers should take no more than two standard drinks per day if drinking is unavoidable.
Mothers who use ecstasy, heroin, cocaine, or amphetamines should not breastfeed for the next 24-48 hours and pump and dump their first stream of breast milk. Those who smoke tobacco or cannabis should do it entirely away from the baby to prevent making them secondhand smokers.
In the case of antianxiety, antidepressants, antipsychotics, or other prescription-based drugs, consumption should be strictly under a doctor’s supervision, even if they cause no significant harm to the infant.
Withdrawal symptoms
Like other drug addicts, lactating mothers with addiction should not stop drugs cold turkey. This predisposes infants to withdrawal symptoms of the substances initially present in the breast milk. These withdrawal symptoms are referred to as neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS).
As earlier mentioned, a mother can pass her addiction to her unborn baby; the same goes during lactation.
It is worth noting that maternal drug use during lactation can have legal implications, especially if the baby is neglected or endangered.
Take away message.
The transfer of drugs from one person to another via bodily fluids is a multifaceted phenomenon that births diverse implications. From medical contexts to intimate relationships, this area highlights the interconnectedness of human interactions.
While inadvertent drug transfer may occur, such incidents can be prevented through adequate awareness, education, and responsible practices, where concerned parties understand the potential consequences of drug transfer through bodily fluids.
