Posted on 10/27/2004 11:39:46 AM PDT by presidio9
Gay and lesbian youth, like older LGBT people, may be 40 to 60 percent more likely than their straight peers to smoke cigarettes, according to data presented last week at a conference of gay and lesbian medical professionals.
In a survey of over 12,000 students in grades 7-12, about 8 percent of the respondents indicated having same-sex attractions or same-sex relationships. Of those, nearly 45 percent of females and 35 percent of males reported smoking. Among those who did not report same-sex attractions, 29 percent -- both males and females -- were smokers.
The survey was conducted by the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), and the results were presented at the annual conference of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association (GLMA), held Oct. 21-23 in Rancho Mirage, Calif.
"I am deeply concerned about the Add Health study findings," said Kenneth Haller, M.D., president of GLMA. "Although the findings are consistent with previous literature showing higher rates of smoking among GLB youth, GLMA hopes the conclusions will help to catalyze the community."
A Harris Interactive poll in 2001 found that 36 percent of respondents who self-identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender were smokers, as compared with 25 percent of all adults surveyed. Several factors may contribute to the higher prevalence, such as higher levels of social stress, frequent patronage of bars and clubs and direct targeting of LGBT consumers by tobacco companies.
In the same poll, LGBT smokers who tried to quit said they attempted and failed eight times to quit smoking, on average.
Helen Lettlow, assistant vice president for priority populations at the American Legacy Foundation (ALF), acknowledged that quitting smoking is tough, but she said the important part is to keep trying.
"There are several factors that are helpful in quitting: creating a plan that includes setting a quit date, having the support of your family and friends, utilizing online or telephone counseling and seeing a medical professional to learn if there are medications that can help," she told the PlanetOut Network.
"Gay youth may find that Internet-based counseling and support boost their likelihood of success due to the anonymity. QuitNet.com is one such resource," she added, referring to one of the Web sites supported by ALF.
Bingo! You win the prize.
Now I need to quit. I don't want anybody thinking I'm gay.
Pole smoker alert!
Don't go there........don't even think that way.
There are SO many ways I could go with this headline...
No doubt this is why gay Arabs use camel filters.
That is sooooooooooooooooooooooooo bad.
ROFLMPO!!!!!!!!!
Just like lemmings to the cliffs!
Not surprising considering the self destructive behavior their gay lifestyle itself engenders.
Really.
And I can't believe that has escaped your attention. But Google it for yourself. Try "smoking" and "income" or "cigarettes" and "education" or any number of combinations that will lead you to study after study, gummint and private, which will document those relationships. Why do you think tobacco taxes have been criticized as being regressive -- falling disproportionately on the poor?
Or rather than Googling, do some first hand research.
Go to Stanford, and then your local technical college. Which place has a higher percentage of smoking students?
Go to a bar where $12 martinis are served, and then go to a "working class" bar on dollar draft night. Which bar has a higher percentage of smokers?
Go to the Masters, then go to a dirt-track stock car race. Which venue has a higher percentage of smokers among spectators?
And so on. You'd have to be in very deep denial not to see the inverse relationship between educational level and income level on one hand versus the incidence of cigarette smoking on the other.
Certainly that doesn't mean that there aren't brilliant, successful, and wealthy smokers. I know a few myself. And I'm not an anti-smoking fanatic; the habit should be accommodated within reason. But really, the overall relationship between education/income/success and smoking is beyond serious debate.
I aint quitin
Like feeding sleeping pills to a hibernating bear.
I think that is why Monica is voting Republican, slick willie left a bad taste in her mouth.
Well, duh....they definitely smoke fags.
What the Brits call a cigarette.
No, it just means that according to the gateway theory, smoking makes you gay.
They smoke because of the friction.
Poles.
And I don't mean citizens of Poland either.
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