Lesbian, gay and bisexual people vape at significantly higher rates than their straight peers, with nearly 40% of gays and lesbians having tried e-cigarettes compared to 16.5% of their straight counterparts, and nearly 50% of bisexual people doing so.
This is according to a report on tobacco use published by the US Surgeon General at the end of 2024.
Due to this, stressed the study’s co-editor, Kristy Marynak, tobacco use is “a singular health threat to LGBTQIA+ communities.”
In this report, electronic cigarettes include e-cigars, e-pipes, e-hookahs, vaping pens, and hookah pens; these have been the tobacco product of choice among all the youth since 2014. Sadly, nearly 1 in 5 of all deaths are caused by tobacco.
The study similarly noted that the younger the LGBTQ+ population, the higher the rate of tobacco use. In its study, over 42% of young adults and 56% of high school students who identify as LGB reported vaping, compared with 30.3% and 49.8% among their heterosexual peers.
Other studies have noted that minority stress is also linked with the high rate of cigarette use among LGBTQ people.
And yet this study from the US Surgeon General noted that this may also be because LGBTQIA people are targeted by manufacturers. Targeted advertising was noted by the report, seeing this in queer media where tobacco companies promote their products. These corporations also donate to organizations that supposedly promote LGBTQIA human rights and Pride.
According to the authors: Vaping “other noncombustible tobacco products such as nicotine pouches have the potential to undermine overall progress in preventing and reducing young people’s use of tobacco products.”
E-cigarettes produce a number of chemicals, including acetaldehyde, acrolein, and formaldehyde. They are not too different from traditional forms of tobacco delivery, also causing lung and heart disease. Similarly, similar to cigarettes, the electronic version uses nicotine.
