The New York City
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community
Center reports a surge in calls to its smoking cessation
program since the death of Peter Jennings due to
lung cancer last week. The center's SmokeFree
Project--the only gay-specific smoking cessation
program in the New York metropolitan area--includes
services both for people thinking about quitting and
people who are ready to quit. Programs include
individual counseling, free patches, hypnosis and stress
reduction seminars, and a novel "Stitch and
Bitch" class to teach new nonsmokers to knit.
"It really
is a tough habit to kick, though it is very easy to become
addicted, particularly in the gay community," Tom K.,
a 40-year-old New York gay man, said in an LGBT center
press release. "I started smoking 10 years ago
and quit about four years ago, but I started up again after
9/11, just like Peter Jennings. The news of his death really
scared me, and I feel as if I am destined for the same
fate."
Gay Americans are
disproportionately affected by tobacco-related health
problems, and studies have shown they smoke more than any
other U.S. population except Native Americans,
according to center officials. Among the reasons
researchers cite for high levels of tobacco use among gays
are high levels of stress and depression, using cigarette
smoking to deal with stigma and homophobia, and
because bars and nightclubs where smoking is prevalent
often are among the first places young gay people visit to
meet other gay men and women.
For people living
with HIV, smoking is particularly hazardous. A New
England study shows that more than 70% of HIV-positive
individuals smoke. A more recent study from Memorial
Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center shows that HIV-positive
smokers are at greater risk for bacterial pneumonia,
emphysema, and asthma as well as various forms of cancer.
Many gay
organizations have mobilized in recent years to urge gays
and lesbians to stop smoking, but these organizations
are also underfunded and in need of fiscal support,
say New York City LGBT Center officials.
"Despite a lack of funding, the center has continued
its SmokeFree Project as the only program of its kind
in the New York metropolitan area, serving LGBT
smokers and smokers living with HIV," says Richard
Burns, the center's executive director.
For more
information about the center's SmokeFree Project call
(212) 620-7310 or go online to www.gaycenter.org.
