Queer Kids Like Drugs, Says Study
A study out of Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic of UPMC indicates that gay guppies turn to drugs more than their straight peers:
The odds of substance use for lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) youth are on average 190 percent higher than for heterosexual youth, according to a study by University of Pittsburgh researchers published in the current issue of Addiction. What’s more, for some sub-populations of LGB youth, the odds were substantially higher, including 340 percent for bisexual youth and 400 percent for lesbians, researchers found.
Those lesbians sure are rebellious!
The authors of the study, who spent ten years compiling data, point to social homophobia and violence are factors in these kids’ drug use. They also stress that the majority of gays are happy, healthy and well-adjusted. Apparently they’ve never tried to date one!
The only thing that they seem to be saying is that gay youngsters, like any group subject to discrimination, are descrimination and violence are substance abuse prone.
I don’t think that the drug use is a direct effect of social homophobia, but probably plays out as something more like: Social Homophobia causes Social phobia in gay teens causes depression and anxiety in gay teens causes self-medication in gay teens. Also, alot of gay teenagers enthusiastically sign up for anything that appears to welcome and embrace them. A peer group of teen drug users often only requires one to also do drugs to accept another member. I recall being 16 and the kids that i first started doing drugs with, were probably the most dramatically close and intimate friends I’d ever had. Drugs have a way of bringing people very closely together, atleast at first.