Pubdate: Sun, 23 Sep 2012
Source: Independent on Sunday (UK)
Copyright: Independent Newspapers Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.independent.co.uk/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/208
Author: Sarah Morrison

DRUG USE 'SEVEN TIMES HIGHER' AMONG GAYS

Two-Year Survey Uncovers 'Problematic Substance Abuse' Among Lgbt Community

Whether it is a coping mechanism in the face of homophobia or just 
hectic partying is not clear, but new figures suggest that gay people 
are seven times more likely to take illegal drugs than the general 
population, with one in five of those surveyed showing signs of 
dependency on drugs or alcohol.

More than a third of gay, lesbian and bisexual people took at least 
one illegal drug in the last month, according to the largest study of 
its kind. Whether drug use is a psychological crutch, a way of 
integrating into the "scene" or perhaps both, that figure compares to 
5 per cent of the wider population who admitted using a drug in the 
last month in the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW).

Campaigners yesterday described the findings as a "wake-up call", 
while specialists warned that gay people risk being "excluded" from 
traditional drug treatment services. The report, conducted by the 
Lesbian and Gay Foundation (LGF) and the University of Central 
Lancashire, who sampled more than 4,000 people over two years, warns 
that there is "significant problematic substance use among lesbian, 
gay and bisexual people" and a risk of "substantial hidden harm".

The most widely used substances among those surveyed were party drugs 
such as cannabis and poppers, followed by powder cocaine, ecstasy, 
ketamine and amphetamines. They were 10 times more likely to have 
used cocaine in the last month than the wider population, and 13 
times more likely to have used ketamine. Heroin use was comparable 
among both populations, but the use of crack cocaine was again higher 
among the gay community.

David Stuart, education, training and outreach manager at London 
Friend, the UK's only targeted LGBT drug and alcohol service, said 
feelings of "rejection" and "fear" as well as "shame around sex" 
could be factors leading to substance abuse. He added that drug 
services "aren't equipped" to deal with the shifting drug trends, 
noting that "while government funding is linked to crime prevention 
and drugs like crack and heroin, less than 2 per cent of lesbian, gay 
and bisexual people use these drugs."

But Kitty Richardson, 25, who runs the Most Cake, a blog for lesbians 
in London, said: "the scene has a lot to answer for". She added: 
"People are very quick to label gay people as troubled, or inherently 
needing those crutches, but all our methods of socialising revolve 
around drink or drugs. A by-product of that is people can become dependent."

The research, carried out at Pride events and through online and 
postal surveys, canvassed a younger age profile than the CSEW, but 
LGF's policy and research co-ordinator, Heather Williams, called the 
figures "striking". She added: "This should be a wake-up call for 
people working with the community and for policy makers commissioning 
services at a local and national level."

While drug use in the general population tends to decrease with age, 
the report found almost as many lesbian, gay and bisexual 36- to 
40-year-olds were taking drugs as their younger counterparts.

'I was bullied quite badly, and started smoking cannabis at 14'

Sarah Graham, 43, is a drug counsellor, living in London. She is also 
a recovering cocaine user, who at one point was spending UKP600 a 
week on drugs and alcohol. The former TV director says the homophobic 
bullying she experienced at school was a factor in her addiction, 
which nearly killed her.

"I was bullied on a daily basis; it got quite bad, in terms of 
physical assaults. I didn't feel comfortable being myself and at 14, 
when I wasn't even out, I started smoking cannabis at the end of the 
playing fields to numb myself to the reality of day-to-day existence. 
This led me to taking more serious drugs, like speed and acid, then cocaine.

"A lesbian, gay or bisexual person presenting in treatment can have 
specific traumas, in which workers need to be trained."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom