Gay drug use must be addressed: Alliance
Australia’s peak LGBTI health body has called on the Gillard Government to help address drug and alcohol issues in the LGBTI community following the release of research showing gay, lesbian and bisexual people smoke, drink alcohol and use illicit drugs more frequently than their heterosexual peers.
National LGBTI Health Alliance chair Paul Martin said the findings reinforce a need for a national approach to dealing with drug use in the LGBTI community.
“Increased use is likely a result of ‘minority stress’ caused by stigma, discrimination and social exclusion,” Martin said.
“While there are pockets of good work happening at a local level in LGBTI organisations, there is no national approach, limited sharing of strategies or collaboration between states and territories and little funding.
“The Alliance calls on the Department of Health and Ageing to support a national LGBTI alcohol, tobacco and other drug use strategic project, in partnership with LGBTI communities and the Alliance.”
According to the findings of the 2010 National Drug Strategy Household Survey, 32.9 percent of homosexual or bisexual people smoke, compared with 17.6 percent of heterosexuals.
The number of GLB smokers sits third in the list of population groups, after Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and singles with dependent children.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare study found 28.6 percent of homosexual or bisexual people drank at risky levels over their lifetime, compared with 20.3 percent of heterosexuals.
The study also found that 33.8 percent of homosexual or bisexual people recently used illicit drugs, compared to 14.1 percent of heterosexuals, with most using cannabis (26 percent) followed by ecstasy (10.8 percent).
Transgender and intersex people were not identified in the survey.
Drug abuse and addiction are a human issue, not a gay issue. If there needs to be special funding for the gay community around addiction, it says more about the way society is structured than it does about the gay community. I know, how about we make everything equal under the law and see if this equalises all other statistics … don’t knock it until we try it.
…and right on cue, St K blogs at 3am demanding to know why drug use should be regarded as bad…
Not sure why we have to start with a supposition that using drugs creates an ‘issue’ or that drug use is bad. Perhaps suggesting education regarding drug use would be a better approach than telling us we have issues and telling gov to help us address them?
A welcome reality check – there is far too much normalisation of excess drug and alcohol use in the community!
How rare is it to hear someone say “mate I think you’ve taken enough of that stuff”?
While I find some value in the article, I think its guilty of gross generlisations.
I’m a lesbian and I don’t do drugs.
I have straight mates and they do do drugs.
How about some RELEVANT reseach into causual factors- drug use+ mental health= exclusion.
Maybe the gay community needs to pull its finger out, take a look at its culture, its behaviours and deal with it.
Take responsibility-get help. And maybe Gillard will start to take us seriously re gay marriage rights.
Maybe.
Oliver you do not know me or my partner. The only sad person is yourself here, constantly abusing gay people making stupid comments with no clue as usual.
I agree with you Banks! Gays are always high on something. Sad!
Banks- Aboriginal people are at an even greater disadvantage to us in terms of drug use and unhealthy lifestyles. Should every Aborigine be denied legal equality because a few are not as ‘civilised’ as white people? What about drug and unhealthy lifestyles effecting poorer whites, should every poor white person be denied equality because some within their social group don’t conform to the standards demanded of them by the white middle class? You are searching for reasons to punish the majority of law abiding gay people by misrepresenting the actions of a few, and exploiting social problems that exist in the gay community to further persecute gays.
….Another thing Banks, if we are arguing against marriage due to drug treatment problems, then if I am straight, I can kill someone and get married, I can rape children and get married, I can burn you and your house down and still get married, all these and more I can do and still get married many times over.
But if I have a drug problem, well I should not be able to marry? I am confused.
Dear old Banks I am here.
I have no problem with you not wanting to marry. Some people, gay or straight, do not want to marry for all sorts of reasons.
I live in a country area. I have a personal story about this article. I had two friends, one developed a drinking problem, that led to employment problems and depression. He tried to get help, but the services in his area were all faith based. One night, his boyfriend found him hanging in the shed. They were together for 8years. About a year later his boyfriend drove off the road into a gum tree.
If the government is funding some faith based services, who send a message of hate to the some sections of the community, I can well understand there are problems.
At present I am concerned that we are not even included in the Federal Equal Opportunity Act, and that some older members of our community are facing discrimination trying to access aged care services. What concerns me is when you exclude people, and say you are not part of society, what message does that send to those excluded. You are less valued. You are not part of society. You should never be treated as any other member of society. To some, all these things and more.
Just because at the moment in your life you have not felt discrimination, does not mean it will not happen to you one day. Your life is always changing. One day you will be old, but when that happens do you want to say I could have done something, and never bothered, or do you want say I did my best with what I had.
Take care,
Dave
Banks, it “proves” nothing. It may SUPPORT a theory and/or opinion. But they are still just theories and opinions.
HA! This article just proves all ranting and raving of the reality of our Gay community (in comparison to the Heterosexual world.
Having such a dark demeanour we still cry like babes in the woods for social inclusions that hold a high level of moral responsibility…. like marriage.
Where is Dave, The editor and all the other people who would continuously dis approve of my perception towards our gay world.
Read and weep people.. read and weep.