A study of Canadian gays shows that members of the LGBT community are twice as likely to smoke tobacco as members of the general population. The research was carried out by a consortium of Toronto health agencies and focused on the city's LGBT community - the largest in Canada and estimated at close to a half million people. Called The Toronto Rainbow Tobacco Survey: A Report on Tobacco Use in Toronto's LGBTTQ Communities, the report says that 36% of LGBT participants reported current smoking, while the latest figures from Toronto Public Health show that 17% of the city's adults are smokers. "This confirms what other research from the U.S. has told us about smoking in queer and trans communities," said Michele Clarke, of the Sherbourne Health Center, one of the groups that participated in the study. The Canadian Cancer Society, the Center for Addiction and Mental Health, the Council for a Tobacco-Free Toronto and Toronto Public Health also took part in the research. The Toronto Rainbow Tobacco Survey gathered data from over 3,000 members of Toronto's LGBTTQ communities from April to July 2006 through outreach at LGBT community events and through an online survey. The study is the first major look at smoking in Canada's LGBT community. The survey also found that 25 percent of those questioned were past smokers and 39 percent had never smoked. That compared with 22 percent of the general Toronto population who were past smokers and 61 percent who never smoked. The researchers also found that within the LGBT group bisexuals, both male and female, had a higher smoking rate than people who identified as gay or lesbian. But the highest rate was among LGBT youth. Among those 15 - 19 years of age the rate was 57 percent and 50 percent for those under 15. "Smoking is a serious health issue for our communities and these higher rates mean that we need more education targeted at LGBTTQ people and more treatment to help them quit," said Clarke. Ref: 365gay.com (m)
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Friday, 26th January 2007 - 12:00pm