by Ryan Oda
Yellowing teeth. Wrinkling skin. A dry as hell cough. We’ve all seen the ads showing the dangers of smoking cigarettes. In school, teachers would pass out red ribbons and “D.A.R.E.” us to be drug-free. “Just Say NO” still lingers in my brain to this day.
We’ve also seen at least one person close to us who has smoked a cigarette, had one too many shots of alcohol, or used some other form of substance to cope with the stresses of daily life. With the FDA declaring youth vaping an “epidemic” in 2018, it is clear that the scare tactics didn’t work. What schools didn’t teach us as kids is truly how stressful and hard being an adult (or even a kid for that matter) is and just how easy it can be to turn to a substance such as tobacco to ease your stress … especially if you are LGBTQ+.
September was National Recovery Month, and anyone on the road toward recovery from a substance addiction should be applauded. What many people get wrong about addiction is the belief that it is a matter of choice. I draw parallels between the experiences of queer people finding ways to cope in our hate-filled world, and the experiences of one of my family members who became addicted to alcohol during the 2008 recession.
This family member’s addiction to alcohol was as much of a choice as they had in losing their job. It was as much of a choice as their parent, who abused them growing up. An addiction to tobacco is as much of a choice as it is to be discriminated against for being queer.
I had the (dis)pleasure of recently attending the Orange Unified School District (USD) Board meeting where they passed a forced outing policy that will undeniably put trans and non-binary students at increased risk for homelessness and depression.
The disgusting display of bigotry from the MAGA supporters and Proud Boys who shouted to the top of their lungs “groomers” made me thankful that I wasn’t a teenager who is just discovering my own identity at an Orange USD school. It was ironic to see so many people who said to the board that they wanted to “protect our kids” all the while supporting a policy that had the potential to increase teen smoking, suicide and depression. A study by the Trevor Project showed that queer youth who had at least one accepting adult were 40% less likely to report a suicide attempt in the past year.
One of the tangible ways to cope in our community has been to rely on tobacco products. The rush of nicotine can calm a headache … at least in the short term. Nicotine is a powerful drug that can make you feel more at ease and calm when you first start to use it. But as you become more and more reliant on nicotine, your mind and body slowly grow more and more dependent on it, to the point where you can’t function without it.
For decades, tobacco companies have relied on this path toward nicotine to fill their pockets with cash. They know that many of us live with trauma because they relish in it by funding ads and Pride events to grow their queer consumer base. This targeting has led to dire consequences for our community. For instance, many doctors will postpone trans affirming care for people who smoke because tobacco can make it harder for the body to heal from surgeries.
We need to go beyond the “Just Say NO” rhetoric; we need systemic change. We need to do the actual work to address why people even start to use tobacco in the first place.
Increased LGBTQ+ rates of tobacco use is a symptom of larger, systemic issues. It is a lack of accessible mental health care, livable wages, and stable housing. We Breathe, a program of the LGBTQ+ Health and Human Services Network, aims to create system change and reduce tobacco’s place in LGBTQ+ lives.
Many of my peers, who are also working to eliminate tobacco from all Californian’s lives (or Endgame as it’s called), are trying to do so without the slightest idea of how to speak to queer people. We Breathe is working to change that. For more information on how to get involved with We Breathe, contact [email protected].
If you or someone you know is trying to quit using tobacco, call Kick It CA at 800-300-8086 or visit kickitca.org/quit-now to speak to a Quit Coach.
–Ryan Oda (he/him/his) is a We Breathe program coordinator with the California LGBTQ Health and Human Services Network.
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