Lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender teens have substantially higher rates of e-cigarette use than straight youth – at least in Ohio, with the Ohio Department of Health reporting that teens who described themselves as LGB were far more likely to say they had vaped or smoked in the past 30 days than their straight or questioning counterparts in a Ohio Healthy Youth Environments Survey taken during the 2016-2017 school year.
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Meanwhile, those who described themselves as transgender or gender nonconforming were far more likely to vape or smoke than their male and female peers. Transgender teens used e-cigarettes at twice the rate of males or females.
Among the reasons cited for the use of e-cigarettes and even traditional cigarettes is to cope with the stress and anxiety; in the case of LGBTQIA people, when faced with social stigma. Also, similar risky behaviors may be picked as youths try to find a community where they feel accepted.
Better information about the health effects of e-cigarettes are said to be therefore needed, with emphasis on the difficulty of giving up nicotine the moment its consumption is started, similar to traditional cigarette use.
