Posted on 10/30/2005 9:26:16 PM PST by neverdem
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles County health officials are focusing a new anti-smoking program at gays and lesbians, who they say are nearly twice as likely to smoke as the general population.
The "Last Drag" campaign aims to reach gays and lesbians through print ads and efforts in bars and clubs - where health officials say many smokers picked up the habit to begin with.
"When a lot of gay men and women come out, they come out in the bar culture, and the bar and club culture has really established a culture where it's OK to smoke," said Jeff Bailey, director of education at the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center. "We need to change that."
Health officials have set up smoking cessation programs targeting gay men at three local area health organizations and plan to start programs early next year for lesbians. Similar classes have operated in San Francisco for several years.
Los Angeles' campaign is a response to a California Department of Health Services study last month that found 30.4 percent of the state's gay community smokes, compared to 15.4 percent of the general population.
"This is the first time that there is data on the gay population," said Dr. Jonathan Fielding, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. "It's of grave concern. We know one out of three smokers is going to die prematurely from a smoking related disease."
Fielding said the campaign will get a $30,000 budget but it will be tied to other ongoing anti-smoking efforts.
On the Net:
The Last Drag: http://www.lastdragLA.com
Fags like fags. Its no secret.
The Times fiddles...
Apparently, in LA you can smoke in a Gay Bar but not a Straight Bar.
It all starts with that thumb sucking habit they could NEVER break!!! (smirk)
Lung cancer should be the least of their immediate health concerns if they take part in random sex like so many homosexuals do.
Most of them won't live long enough to need to worry about lung cancer.
BTTT
ROTFLOL!!
LOL! Homos are urged to protect their health by not smoking while every effort is made to mainstream their inherently unhealthy sex practices. Apparently the health Nazis in LA have decreed smoking and second hand smoke to be a greater health danger than HIV/STD's, etc. What a load.
Don't even start me on the name of the campaign. I'm just bursting at the seams on this one.AWB
What? Are you ban-O-phobic? All the NO-GROWTH NIMBY's around here are Home-O-Phobic!!!
Is this the stop smoking website or Blanco's re-election site?AWB
sorry I can't help myself.
LOL!!!!
The average homosexual male will live to about 48 years of age.....the average heterosexual male will live to about 65 years of age......(or thereabouts)
LA County is STUCK on STUPID.
Not really. This is just the Tobacco Settlement dollars at work. I can see rooms of people thinking very hard and long for way to spend this money - And they came up with this. LMAO
methinks the reason that they smoke so much is to get the bad taste of the other stuff outta their mouth.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.