Aims: To determine if measures of drug use risk, sexual risk, external norms andinternalized norms developed for impoverished neighbourhoods of New York are usablein similar neighbourhoods of Buenos Aires and have similar associations with each otherin the two cities despite the many cultural, social, economic and political differencesbetween these localities.Methods: In 2003–2004, 240 current non-injection drug users (IDUs) and 63 currentIDUs, aged 21–35 years, were interviewed in poor neighbourhoods of the SouthernMetropolitan Area of Buenos Aires about their drug use, sexual behaviours, internalizednorms and external norms (actual and perceived social pressures from others) usingmeasures developed in New York (Flom, Friedman, Benny, & Curtis, 2001a, Flom, et al.,2001b; Flom, Friedman, Jose, Neaigus, & Curtis, 2001c). Analyses studied associationsbetween a hierarchical scale of drug use risk and the other variables.Results: The hierarchical risk scale of drug use was associated with sexual riskbehaviours; with external norms towards drug injection and sex with drug injectors,and internalized norms about social distance from drug injectors.Conclusions: The hierarchical drug use risk scale and the measures of externalnorms had relationships similar to those found in the earlier studies in New YorkCity. This supports the ideas that these measures may have a degree of cross-culturalapplicability.