Comments on SF Is #1; Seattle Is #2

I think the difference between 13% and 9.6% is not the extra 2% LGBT but all the TL crack whores.

Coincidentally, San Francisco and Seattle also rate first and second, respectively, for percentage of residents that identify as LGB or T.

Coincidentally, the San Francisco 49ers also boasted a lower third-down-conversion percentage in 2006 (34.4%) than did the Seattle Seahawks (37.9%). Just as telling a stat, hoss!

The pressure is way too hard at #1 - it's best to be #2, cause you can always improve.

Wow. Sumptin' to be proud of.

houston and d.c. are HUGE drug towns...I find these numbers suspicious...or is this a survey of folks who are PROUD to use drugs? maybe I'd buy these numbers then...

SF and Seattle are also number 1 & 2 for the lowest percentage of children living in the City.

The idea that San Bernardino, California is one of the lowest drug use cities not only instantly disqualifies this survey but also warrants the survey a tarring, feathering, and cockpunching.

Stupid-ass survey.

Why is weed bunched in with drugs that actually can kill people, such as heroin and cocaine?

Just some fools trying to exaggerate what is basically a non-problem. Thanks, more ignorant paranoia is just what we require these days.

I think Michael @5 is correct. You can't help but wonder if the people who voluntarily self-report their drug use to a survey like this might have drug user pride. It's kinda like gay pride - we're here, we're high, get used it. And if that attitude were to be be adopted anywhere in this country, it would be SF and Seattle - places where responsible drug use is more socially tolerated and drug possession is a lower enforcement priority. It also explains why folks in pro-drug war Texas are less forthcoming about their drug use.

There is a growing belief that the data collected from self-reporting drug surveys are inherently flawed. Nevertheless, mainstream media outlets, such as USA Today, seem to have no hesitation reporting sensational findings. Of course, I'm guilty too, since I posted the article and all...

Whether it be the size of our GBLT community, or our illegal drug use, i just HATE losing to San Fran at anything. We need to recruit more gay stoners!

Why do you insist on tying together drugs and homos, Dominic?

Actually, both weed and gay marriage are legal in Canada, so if we use a Canadian measure, you'd find Seattle is a very law-abiding town.

Mostly. Except for you guys up on the Hill.

and we're the most educated ... so the pot makes us smart right?

Gotta ditto a few comments:
- why is weed lumped in? All the druggies I know in Houston and Detroit are on meth... Seattle is all weed. There's a big fuckin' difference between the two.
- why just link drugs and GLBT? Thanks to other posters for also throwing in # of kids living in the city and higher-education rate... SF and Seattle rate high on a LOT of lists.
- who the hell is reporting their drug usage?

And, in a self-referential circle-jerk, Seattlest.com now links to The Slog! http://www.seattlest.com/archives/2007/01/08/all_the_news.php

all this survey says is that sf has the highest number of people REPORTING drug use, etc. etc.

maybe people in SF just don't have as many hang-ups and report their drug-use, whereas the more conservative people in San Bernardino don't report their meth (i mean, drug) use.

i love how in the quote, the first paragraph says "reported using" and then the second paragraph drops the "reported" and just says "drug abuse rates", clearly jumping to the assumption that REPORTED drug use is the same as ACTUAL drug use.

and of course, the person who posted doesn't question the "authority" in this case and simply takes their word as gospel.

ba-a-a-a-a-... ;)

Wondering @11, I tied the two surveys together because a) Seattle and SF have the same homo/drug rating, and b) I'm a queer drug law reformer, and well...

re some of the above comments that the survey is flawed or that Seattle is an all weed kinda town.

Not defending this survey at all, but there is some good, independent evidence that Seattle actually is a kinda druggie town and hardly all weed.

A survey done back in ought-one or 02, showed that Seattle was second (behind Philly) for jail inmates testing positive for opiates at time of booking.

We consistently rank second or third for the per capita number of folks who inject drugs (primarily heroin, but meth makes a very strong showing). Baltimore always leads the pack.

We consistently rank high for per capita number of drug overdoses.

As far as Dominic's comments re GLBT folks, most studies indicate that gay men in particular have higher rates of substance use/abuse than non-gay men. The trend sometime holds for lesbians.

I'm guessing there's a strong correlation between drug use and number of unmarried 20-30 year olds in each city.

Well, that probably explains why so many of you SF/Seattle urbanites have such crackheaded ideas.