The Relationship Between Smoking and Other Drug Use Among Sexual Minority Youth

This article examines cross-sectional data from 283 lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth who responded to survey questions about health risk behaviors. Responses from online, anonymous self-report questionnaires examining smoking (lifetime prevalence [72%] and past-month [42%]) and illicit drug use (cocaine, marijuana, inhalants, heroin, methamphetamines, ecstasy, and painkillers with no prescription) among sexual minority youth and young adults ages 13 to 22 are examined. Results indicate that youth who had ever tried smoking were more likely to use cocaine, painkillers, marijuana, and inhalants than youth who have never tried smoking. As a result of the high incidence of smoking as well as the high incidence of illicit drug use for sexual minority youth and young adults, implications are suggested for preventative and interceptive approaches targeting this population.