COLUMBUS – At 18, Richard Wilson took a cue from his friends and lit his first cigarette.
READ MORE: In the Columbus Dispatch
But eight years later, the Short North resident decided the health effects outweighed his desire to light up.
“Needing a cigarette is really annoying,” said Wilson, now 27, who quit smoking after last year’s Columbus Pride Festival.
According to the 2013 Ohio Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 43.4 percent of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender adults in the state use tobacco products — nearly double the rate among heterosexual adults.
That’s why the Ohio Department of Health and Columbus Public Health will have booths this weekend at the Columbus Pride Festival, where they will hand out brochures about smoking cessation.
RELATED: Columbus Pride Festival
Both are following the lead of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which says the rates must drop.
The state health department will have experts on hand to answer questions about smoking cessation and health issues, said Russ Kennedy a spokesperson for the department.
The city is offering free testing for sexually transmitted diseases, said Jose Rodriguez, a spokesman for Columbus Public Health.
High stress levels can lead to tobacco use, said Mary Ellen Wewers, a professor of health behavior and health promotion at Ohio State University.
“Particularly in the LGBT population, there may be higher levels of marginalization or discrimination in society,” Wewers said. “There’s also some stigma and that can cause stress.”