From the Edge on the Net…

Did you know that gays smoke cigarettes at rates nearly 70 percent higher than the general population, and tobacco companies target the LGBT community specifically? There are 440,000 preventable deaths from tobacco-related causes each year. Maybe it’s time to make that resolution happen, and let Legacy help you kick that butt for good.

“Legacy has been working to support the LGBT community since its inception, doing everything from funding grant projects to listening sessions, convening folks to talk about issues facing the community,” said Legacy’s Senior Vice President of Collaboration and Outreach William Furmanski. “Last year we had a report published with our findings and hosted a webinar to have a national dialogue.” Legacy is a Washington, D.C.-based foundation responsible for truth®, the national youth smoking prevention campaign that has been cited as contributing to significant declines in youth smoking. Their education campaigns include EX®, an innovative public health program designed to speak to smokers in their own language and change the way they approach quitting. Legacy helps people live longer, healthier lives by building a world where young people reject tobacco, and anyone can quit.

Furmanski cited statistics that reveal the LGBT community has some of the highest rates of smoking among any population group — in fact, dramatically higher than the public at large. This means that the disease and death caused by tobacco use impacts our community at a much higher rate. “Anything we can do to help individuals understand the risks in smoking and how they can improve their health by quitting, and strategies used by the tobacco industry to attract them to a product are important,” said Furmanski. “We realized that even just relaying these harms would help the LGBT community, because tobacco use takes a back seat to other health issues in our community like HIV/AIDS. Many people think smoking can be okay to deal with the stress in life.”

Read the full article on edgeonthenet.com