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FDA effort aims to curb smoking in LGBT community

ASSOCIATED PRESS

The Food and Drug Administration’s latest anti-smoking campaign takes aim at young adults in the LGBT community, who officials say are nearly twice as likely to use tobacco as their peers.

WASHINGTON >> The Food and Drug Administration’s latest anti-smoking campaign takes aim at young adults in the LGBT community, who officials say are nearly twice as likely to use tobacco as their peers.

The $35.7 million effort targets the estimated 40 percent of 2 million LGBT young adults in the U.S. who occasionally smoke. Dubbed “This Free Life,” the campaign will begin running print, digital and outdoor advertising in 12 markets this week. The ads use the slogan “Freedom to be, Tobacco-Free,” and are aimed at adults ages 18 to 24.

FDA officials attribute the higher smoking rate in the LGBT community to the “coming out” process, which can cause anxiety and social stigma that may drive people to use tobacco. The agency also points to research suggesting the use of tobacco by gay celebrities encourages younger people to take up smoking.

The federal campaign “is designed to challenge the perception that tobacco use is a necessary part of LGBT culture,” said Richard Wolitski, an official with the Department for Health and Human Services, in a statement.

Tobacco companies are footing the bill for the campaign through fees charged under a 2009 law that created the FDA’s tobacco program. Among other powers, the FDA can restrict marketing of tobacco products to young people and evaluate the health risks of new tobacco products before they launch.

Monday’s announcement follows the launch of a similar $36 million anti-smoking campaign aimed at rural teenagers announced last month. Last year the FDA launched a $128 million campaign targeting urban minority youth using hip-hop music and culture.

23 responses to “FDA effort aims to curb smoking in LGBT community”

  1. lespark says:

    You got to be joking.

  2. kekelaward says:

    Blunt and to the point.

    This is what youth do…try stuff out. Are we really paying for this c rap?

  3. pgkemp says:

    let em kill themselves……….

  4. Cricket_Amos says:

    “the “coming out” process, which can cause anxiety”

    The anxiety is often caused by the psychological condition called “identification”

    It is basically the procedure of jamming yourself into a crude rigid category, which suppresses the complexity of who you are. You are told you need to commit to it, for this to be your identity. This is the source of the anxiety and neurotic behavior.

    It is the process of saying this is what you “are” as though this word, this category were a real thing in the real world, as opposed to a partial, crude extreme abstraction of some part of some peoples behavior and desires

    In the latest mumbo jumbo from the sociology community, they have a category corresponding to those who have not yet “committed”

    The use of this word recognizes this is a fabricated artifice. If it were just a club, wherein you commit to following the rules, it will not damage you psychologically. But when it is peddled to be what you “are”, it is something far worse.
    You are being asked to damage your psyche, to suppress and deny all you are outside of a simple minded category.

    In many cases it is not the anxiety of “coming out”. it is the neurosis being forced on you when you attempt to recreate yourself into a artificial category which has recently been dreamt up by the academics that make a living out of fabricating these things.

  5. stanislous says:

    What is a LGBT ?

  6. Bdpapa says:

    The last I remember all humans have the same internal and external organs, Do all are treated medically the same.LGBT is not a medical condition. These are adults. They know where to go for help if needed. Spend the money on those under 18.

  7. Oahuan says:

    Perhaps they have the urge to put something long in their mouths?

  8. ready2go says:

    If smoking is a potential health hazard, are smokers rated higher and pay a higher premium for health insurance?

  9. Ronin006 says:

    The reason so many LGBTs smoke is so that they can blow smoke up their partners’ arzes.

  10. kkelli4u says:

    Mahalo, for supporting and targeting our LGBT youth, automatic anxiety and social stigma, nearing the mile stone; way overdue; to stop discrimination, and bring Equality, Justice and Respect, which creates freedom, in our work place, schools and public accommodations of enjoyment; as the LGBT move forward, We supporting our youth in gradating “by using the front door” with honor and career opportunities.

    • kekelaward says:

      Maybe you’d get more people to back your group if you went in the front door at places that back your lifestyle (like any business, they’d like your dollars too), instead of going to places that you are well aware don’t care for your lifestyle, and then suing them or using government to force them out of existence.

      People are starting to look askew at your group cause you told us this only pertains to the privacy of your home, but now we see that parts of your group are going into businesses and even restrooms with an agenda. In the case of suing businesses,with a hateful attitude too. If it were the only business supplying that service, okay. But, if there thousands of other places supplying the same thing, just go somewhere else that wants your money. The way people you want to be equal to do.

      • Ronin006 says:

        Yes, kekelaward, it was not long ago when homosexuality was decriminalized based on the argument that what two consenting adults did in the privacy of their homes was no one else’s business. Look at where we are today. It is going to get worse as liberals continue to push their LGBT agenda. Liberals believe it is discrimination to deny the use of a female restroom to guys who feel like females or self-identify as females. That is hard to believe – discrimination against feelings and perceptions, but that is the reality.

  11. kkelli4u says:

    Have some class…………….

  12. wrightj says:

    They’re eligible for the Chimney Award.

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