Smoking hits an all-time low… but not for gay people
A report has found that people who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual are 40% more likely to be smokers than straight people.
The news comes from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which this week released report ‘Cigarette Smoking Among Adults’.
The report found that overall, smoking has gone down – from 20.9% of the population in in 2005 to 16.8% in 2014. Data also records a more recent drop, from 16.8% in 2013, to 17.8% in 2014.
However, though smoking has dropped overall, it remains popular with LGBT people – with a far higher prevalence among lesbian, gay, or bisexual adults (23.9%) than among straight adults (16.6%).
Dr Amy Lukowski of respiratory research hospital National Jewish Health said: “We’re making great strides, but it’s evident that there are large groups of people who continue to struggle with tobacco and the chronic diseases associated with it.
“We need to find ways to better reach and serve those vulnerable demographic groups that are disproportionately impacted by tobacco.
“As an academic medical center devoted for decades to eliminating tobacco use and its associated disease states, we feel the imperative to better identify and understand the unique factors related to tobacco use in these groups and develop protocols that are specifically tailored to their needs.
“This is a high priority for us.”
In the UK, research previously found that young people who identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual are twice as likely to have smoked as their heterosexual peers.
