BY ZACK FORD

A new study from the Network for LGBT Health Equity shows that in a given year LGBT Americans spend 65 times more on cigarettes — an estimated $7.9 billion — than is spent on all LGBT advocacy combined. Nearly a third of all people who identify as LGBT smoke, rates 68 percent higher than the national average (19.5 percent). The Network believes this data proves that “smoking is the LGBT community’s biggest health concern.”

Numerous other studies have similarly found that not only are LGBT people more likely to smoke, but also less likely to quit. Three main factors contribute to these high rates of substance abuse: minority stress, a health care system that doesn’t recognize the unique needs of LGBT people, and targeted marketing by tobacco companies in LGBT publications. In particular, tobacco companies have engaged in predatory marketing particularly when it comes to menthol-flavored cigarettes, the only kind of flavored cigarettes that the Food and Drug Administration did not ban in 2009.

Image: THE NETWORK FOR LGBT HEALTH EQUITY

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A recent article in the American Journal of Public Health analyzed nationally representative survey results and found that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) adults smoke cigarettes at rates that are nearly 70 percent higher than the general population. A new study from Legacy, a national public health nonprofit located in Washington, D.C., shows that LGB young adults ages 18-34 are also smoking at disproportionately high rates compared with their heterosexual counterparts.

This is the first national survey measuring current tobacco use among young adults to ask about sexual identity.

This study confirms higher rates of current tobacco use for homosexual young adults (35 percent) and bisexual young adults (31 percent) compared with heterosexual young adults (22 percent) in a nationally representative sample.

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The Seattle Lesbian online magazine reaches more than 188,000 readers per week globally.

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Since the 1980s, the tobacco industry has targeted gays and lesbians in their marketing. “Big Tobacco” exploits our sexuality by eroticizing tobacco use in ads and attempts to gain our trust by posing as “friends” of the community. This industry spends about $14 billion a year on marketing, focusing on us by advertising in our lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) media; sponsoring our community events; and aligning itself with the community on social issues we are passionate about, such as marriage equality.

We all know it isn’t always easy being queer, and some may start smoking to take the edge off. According to national polls, LGBT women smoke up to 200 percent more than their heterosexual counterparts. Furthermore, research suggests that this may be due to the stress of social stigma or the social norms within the LGBT community.

Read more at TaggMagazine.com

Tagg Magazine is a print and online resource for LBT women in the DC Metropolitan and Rehoboth, DE areas.

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