The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made the finding
after surveying 156,000 high school students from 2001-2009.
Examining students in Connecticut, Delaware, Maine,
Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin, and also in the
Boston, Chicago, Milwaukee, New York City, San Diego and San
Francisco school districts, the report is the largest of its
kind by the federal government.
Specifically, it found that 12 per cent of queer students
admitted to carrying a gun - more than four times the number of
their heterosexual peers.
It also found that 15.4 per cent admitted driving under the
influence of alcohol (as opposed to 7.8 per cent of straight
students), while 27.8 per cent of gay and lesbian students
had smoked more than 10 cigarettes in a day - compared to 9.1
percent of heterosexual students.
Nearly a third of them had contemplated suicide, while only 11 per
cent of straight teens had considered killing themselves.
"This report should be a wake-up call for families, schools and
communities that we need to do a much better job of supporting
these young people," said Howell Wechsler, director of the CDC's
Division of Adolescent and School Heath.
"We are very concerned that these students face such dramatic
disparities for so many different health risks."
