The National Youth Advocacy Coalition (NYAC) said it was excited about the many lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth groups observing Gay American Smoke Out nationwide last week.
The American Legacy Foundation funded NYAC for one year to create and implement a tobacco prevention and cessation program called FREE (Friends, for Real, Educating and Empowering).
The program's components include a youth council that provides programmatic guidance; resource development (including an online searchable resource database, resource guide and fact sheets); and a pilot media campaign.
The resource guide, which had significant youth involvement in its development, will be released by the end of this year and is already considered the most comprehensive source on LGBTQ youth and tobacco prevention and cessation in the country.
NYAC said it believes tobacco use among LGBTQ youth is a critical health issue because LGBTQ youth smoking rates are significantly higher than those of heterosexual youth and because the tobacco industry has a history of targeting the LGBTQ and youth communities.
Smoking rates for lesbian, gay and bisexual youth (there is no data on transgender youth) are reportedly almost twice as high as their straight peers.
See www.nyacyouth.org .
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