Devoted Christians say homosexuality is the work of the Devil. And that tobacco is the Devil's grass. A new study shows that smoking has a higher prevalence in the gay community than it has on the rest of the population, even if more investigations are still required.

The general Californian population has a smaller percentage of smokers than a pool of Californians who declared themselves lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGB) have. The team employed data from a 2003-2004 tobacco use survey of 1,950 self-identified gay, lesbian or bisexual Californians with a 2002 general population survey.

"It is important to know the prevalence and reasons for smoking because we would like to have tailored prevention and cessation interventions that are appropriate for LGBs," said lead researcher Elisabeth Gruskin, a scientist in the research division of Kaiser Permanente Northern California.

"For example, if stress is a huge issue, then you would want stress management as part of an intervention. If glamour is a big reason, you want to contradict that in the media. 12 % of women in the general population were current smokers compared to approximately 29 % of lesbians and nearly 27 % of bisexual women," added Gruskin.

Among females who have sex with females but do not regard themselves as lesbian or bisexual, 44 % were smokers. In the case of men, 20 % of the general population smoked, but the percentage in the gay community was 27 %.

"This study is the first statewide, household-based study of the LGB population … to assess all of the basic indicators of tobacco use" and compare it with data from the general population, explained the authors. The National LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) Tobacco Control Network has got the point.

"We've gotten the main population's smoking rates down low. In order to get lower, we're going to work on pockets of the community. LGBTs are one of those groups.", said the organization network's director.