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U.S. alcohol consumption drops to a 90-year low, new poll finds
- more_corn 1y agoThere was a study a few years ago showing that there might not be a safe number of drinks per day. That sort of thing makes a difference as the knowledge percolates through society.
- thinkmassive 1y agohttp://archive.today/ncezH http://archive.today/ncezH
- FirmwareBurner 1y ago[flagged]
- lagniappe 1y agoCasinos are also seeing a similar drop
- FirmwareBurner 1y agoWhy go to a casino to loose money, when you can loose money betting on Polymarket/Crypto online from your phone anywhere you are?
- Analemma_ 1y agoThat's not a positive development: it's because casinos are getting replaced by sports betting on your phone, which is much much worse.
- trollski 1y agodont forget the casinoization of the stock market
- wcunning 1y agoAlso they've been bought out by private equity an prices have shot through the roof -- Vegas is seeing massive downturns in tourism and from my cursory following of the problem, it's all price increases on food, booze, travel, hotels on the Strip making people uninterested in going.
- _mlbt 1y agoI think it’s also the lack of disposable income to gamble with.
- tokioyoyo 1y ago“Why gamble in Vegas, when you can do it from your phone in NYC?”. There’s a significant devaluation of “in-person fun”, and it’s sad to see.
- bdcravens 1y agoI can only speak to my personal experience, in Vegas, but the electronic machines have become pretty unfriendly to casual players who just want to enjoy themselves. Gone are the true 1-25 cent machines, replaced with games that pretty much require you to wager dollars at a time. Plus Vegas has gotten more entertainment oriented over time, so that the casinos really aren't that interesting anymore. The trend away from smoking probably plays a role, with few casino floors being smoke-free.
- immibis 1y agoThis is arguably the way all of society has gone. Everything and I mean everything is about extracting money out of you, because the politicians who designed this version of capitalism (no, it's not natural) didn't know about Goodhart's law, or more likely, didn't care.
- nikcub 1y agoThat's because now you can go broke without leaving your sofa with mobile sports betting, option trading, prediction markets and crypto
- assword 1y ago[dead]
- charcircuit 1y ago[flagged]
- cpursley 1y agoYou're getting downvoted, but most of the time I prefer room temperature water.
- ramenmeal 1y agoprobably downvoted because it doesn't really add to the conversation.
- _mlbt 1y agoYou can always ask your server for room temperature water as long as you’re okay with drinking tap.
- nerdjon 1y agoI mean... I am not drinking alcohol because I am thirsty... Often I have both in front of me. It isnt a one or the other situation.
- subjectsigma 1y agoWhy even post this?
- charcircuit 1y agoBecause I have never had the desire to buy alcohol since there is a superior alternative. I am providing context on why me and many others are contributing to the fall of the statistic.
- Larrikin 1y agoThen post it on your blog, nobody actually wants your thoughts on why you think you're superior for not enjoying one of the most common beverages in human history.
- littlexsparkee 1y agoFound myself cutting back, too. I drink beer and usually have 1-2 at a time - any more and the flavors just get muddled. It's water, tea, coffee for me most of the time (added benefit of polyphenols, antioxidants for those brewed drinks). If I drank more, I would be too worried about handicapping my intellect.
- jauntywundrkind 1y agoI love tea, but because of the caffeine I think of it as a morning/afternoon enjoyment. It'd be lovely to have more evening refreshments. I have various mixers for seltzer water, which helps. Also just drinking less liquids at night probably helps some with sleeping in general but I really like having something to sip on.
- littlexsparkee 1y agoThere's always tisanes like rooibos and herbs (mint, etc). I read that with regular consumption of caffeine you don't tend to notice it anymore (sensitivity aside) which has been my experience. It helps my workouts and getting up but I've never felt like I needed it or it keeps me up (still try to not have it past 3 or 4pm). Agree on tapering liquids near bedtime.
- dskrenta 1y agoI love drinking Rooibos at night as a replacement for tea, highly recommend. Various flavored options available too.
- doublepg23 1y agoI’ve been making cold brew tea during this summer and sipping on that. 3-4 decaf black tea bags for a body, 2 or so random herbal teas for flavor all tossed in a large tea jug in the fridge overnight.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- coffeecoders 1y agoMeanwhile daily or near-daily marijuana use has increased by 269% from 2008 to 2022.[1] [1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/611714/marijuana-use-during-past-year-in-the-us/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/611714/marijuana-use-dur...
- thinkingtoilet 1y agoI wonder how much of that is honesty in reporting? No doubt the wave of legalization has increase usage massively, but I sure as shit wouldn't have told a random poll in the 2010s about my illegal marijuana use. I didn't even tell my doctor for fear of it ending up in a chart somewhere.
- taeric 1y agoNo doubt it is not a 100% accurate poll. But hard to think it hasn't gone up? If only from the legal sales numbers. More, you'd be surprised at how many people would have told pollsters, even in 2010s, that they were doing things like this.
- bediger4000 1y ago> you'd be surprised at how many people would have told pollsters Yeah, when my son was in middle school, they ran a poll. I was surprised by how many kids at his school had artificial limbs. Terrible carnage, just terrible.
- altairprime 1y agoIt’s a more effective misery suppressant per dollar than a drink, and is much less likely to result in humiliating or violent outbursts when overconsumed. Little surprise it’s supplanted booze, then, when fewer each year can afford the romanticism of a cocktail bar.
- xp84 1y ago> I didn't even tell my doctor for fear of it ending up in a chart somewhere. Keep not telling them, by the way. All evidence I've found is that (US) life insurers can still refuse to cover you or rate you as less healthy if you admit to cannabis consumption even when it's state-level legal, and you have to sign papers that authorize doctors to disclose EVERYTHING to them to get a policy issued (at least you do once you're old enough that life insurance becomes more important). During COVID, I was somewhat down and my GP prescribed a tiny dose of Lexapro, which did nothing but give me diarrhea so I quit immediately. But that "being treated for depression" or whatever, once disclosed, caused my next life insurance renewal to be far more expensive. So that's why I "have never consumed any cannabis."
- atsushin 1y agoThere was a pretty good Kurzgesagt video posted earlier today on alcohol in general: https://youtu.be/aOwmt39L2IQ https://youtu.be/aOwmt39L2IQ The shift in perception of alcohol is certainly a good sign. Even outside of the health benefits, a night out at the bar is expensive now (at least on the East Coast) and honestly speaking other drugs are simply more cost-effective. I still have the occasional cocktail when going out with friends but now that I'm focused more on my overall fitness I find less of a reason to drink now. Still love the vibe of bars and pubs though. Anecdotally knowing that club drugs like ketamine and 2c-b are gaining popularity, I wonder whether young people may be turning onto substances like those now or if in general Gen-Z prefers to abstain entirely.
- chiffre01 1y agoAnecdotally it seems like alcohol is being replaced with weed or other things. But it doesn't bode well for the future of mental health if social drinking is being replaced with solo drug use or just solo everything.
- taeric 1y agoYeah, I have a hard time thinking this is specifically a good thing. A better relationship with drinking is not something to argue against, of course. But I find the dysfunction in so many people that take a strong stance against it rather hard to ignore, as well.
- amanaplanacanal 1y agoif. Other drug use can be just as social as alcohol consumption.
- oldmanhorton 1y agoAnd also, a decent chunk of alcohol consumption must be solo? I'd bet alcohol is broadly more social, but I would also wonder if that would change if more public gathering places served weed in some form.
- 1y ago
- tartoran 1y agoTHC is the new Ethanol
- Mashimo 1y agoI really like the trend. It is getting more acceptable to not drink. I'm a party drinker, but whenever I see someone who does not drink he gets bombarded with "why not?" "You just did not have the right kind of beer yet" "just one?" and that is incredible sad. Sadly social gatherings such as "meetups with friends" and "attendance at parties" is also dropping :( Kurzgesagt just had a video about alcohol and the social aspect: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOwmt39L2IQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOwmt39L2IQ Edit: Oh, and the trend for non-alcohol wine and beer is also a big plus.
- syncmaster913n 1y agoWhen I was in my early 20s, I used to instinctively pressure non-drinkers into drinking as well. I did it because the non-drinkers ruin the fun for me. They don't laugh as much or engage in banter. They're timid and lack the drinker's adventurous spirit. The pressuring usually worked though. When I realized that I was hurting those people by pressuring them into drinking, rather than stop pressuring them, I stopped inviting them to social gatherings that involve drinking altogether.
- geden 1y agoHow understanding of you.
- syncmaster913n 1y agoIs it? I always thought I had low-key ostracized them. But I wasn't able to put their needs ahead of mine on this one.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- andrewclunn 1y agoMaybe on the coasts, but I can tell you that here in the mid-West, booze is still going strong.
- tptacek 1y agoI don't think this is true, at least not in Chicago.
- mrtksn 1y agoSuch a sad development, Young people need to drink more and socialize. No wonder the virginity rates are skyrocketing. You don't get into situations by getting stoned at home. Sure it is bad for your body but when used in moderation the benefits are much much more than that risk. What a scam the weed culture is. Maybe we should ban it again together with the social media to save the birth rates and the society in general.
- throwmeaway222 1y agosuper bad faith that this is downvoted without comments
- bdcravens 1y agoEspecially when you consider this user's profile: "Sometimes I will say things I don't actually believe so we can have a more lively debate."
- mrtksn 1y agoI do actually believe that weed replacing alcohol as drug of choice is destroying the social fabric of the society. What's so controversial about it? What is the last time when a joint got someone laid or made friends?
- lagniappe 1y ago>What is the last time when a joint got someone laid or made friends? Surely you jest..
- amanaplanacanal 1y agoLots of people are able to get laid and make friends without alcohol. If there is a person who can't, I think it says more about them than about alcohol.
- 1y ago
- throwmeaway222 1y agoi like my mind clear 100% of the time
- gwbas1c 1y agoOne drink doesn't do that. It's a misconception pushed by people who don't know what they're talking about / have an axe to grind. That being said: If you don't want to drink, don't. Life is too short to spend time with people who don't accept you for who you are and what you want to do.
- afroboy 1y agoOne drink lead to another.
- gwbas1c 1y agoFor an alcoholic, yes. I have that problem with candy and junk food. Other people have it with video games. It's better not to judge.
- doright 1y agoYeah, I consider myself lucky I avoided drinking decades ago. I say "lucky" I because I was able to view alcohol consumption as a risk-reward tradeoff and guessed (correctly) that I was abnormally vulnerable to addiction due to upbringing. I sometimes feel smart for figuring it out, but honestly if I had just been invited to more parties early on I might still be going to AA meetings by now. So I do not at all blame the newer generations for following in my footsteps, regardless of the reason. This stuff can be life-ruining with the correct combination of nature and nurture. I think for some backgrounds like mine, the only way to avoid the worst outcomes of addiction is to declare that such a background precludes any consumption of [substance], full stop. It's not something people want to hear, but I believe there really was no other choice for me in hindsight.
- metaltyphoon 1y agoThis is to be said for any addiction
- softwaredoug 1y agoThe NA beers out there have become quite good. Athletic brewing timed the market really well.
- majora2007 1y agoThis is my go to. I hope it becomes cheaper though.
- gwbas1c 1y agoI think instead of giving up my beer with dinner, I'm just going to switch to non-alcoholic beer. It's easier to work within the habit instead of fighting it.
- gkiely 1y agoLagunitas IPNA is really good but it’s not always easy to find.
- suddenlybananas 1y agoI like booze and I think social drinking is good for society.
- littlexsparkee 1y agoIt's good to have 3rd places to meet folks and bars can offer low/no alc. options to broaden their base in light of these changing habits. Locally, I'm seeing Yemeni coffee places open up where people go to hang out - helps that they're often open to midnight.
- mmsc 1y agoI think what will happen in the future is that the people that drink, will be drinking way more; while the people that rarely drink, will more rarely drink.
- tptacek 1y agoNightlife customer patronage is way down post-pandemic, to the point where some very famous bars in Chicago (Twisted Spoke, Violet Hour) have shut down. To the extent nightlife drinking was a major component of US alcohol consumption, that may explain much of the drop.
- keeda 1y agoI've observed the same in NYC. I experienced the nightlife in NYC shortly before the pandemic, and then again a couple of years after, and the difference was stark. The streets used to be buzzing at 3am on any given weekend. Nowadays, you'll see some people on the streets, but the city that never sleeps is, if not quite asleep, doomscrolling in bed.
- ahartmetz 1y agoIn Berlin, some clubs are closing, but the most noticeable thing is that the nightlife that used to start and end very late is now starting and ending an hour or two earlier. Covid was like a reset for some things that were "out of the ordinary" before. Pay for hospitality personnel, too... I hear it's less bad now.
- tokioyoyo 1y agoA good chunk of my “fun and memorable nights” involved going out for a drink with friends/meeting new people at the bar. It’s very good if the younger generation is consuming less alcohol, but unless they’re replacing the social-aspect of it with something similar, I pity them. Unfortunately, looking at the data, it shows that people are just lonelier and hang out in social circles even less. Obviously there are problems with over-consumption, and addiction. However, what is life, if not a large collection of your memories?
- gwbas1c 1y agoDoes "going out for a drink with friends/meeting new people at the bar" require consuming alcohol? Plenty of bars have non-alcoholic beer and mocktails. I've always switched to them after 1-2 drinks.
- k_g_b_ 1y agoIt doesn't, and people slowly realize - e.g. in beer country Germany: https://www.dw.com/en/germany-alcohol-free-beer-sales-double-in-past-decade/a-69803743 https://www.dw.com/en/germany-alcohol-free-beer-sales-double...
- tokioyoyo 1y agoDepends. I personally don't care about noalc, as when I don't want to drink, I just get Sprite or equivalent. Nor I ever cared if a person got noalc when I'm grabbing beer. The reality is though, alcohol lowers your inhibitions, and sometimes it's a good thing. Again, I have to emphasize the whole moderation part, and how alcohol might be awful for some people, so obviously refrain from it. But actively discouraging any sort of drinking...
- _lvbh 1y agoThere's so much to do other than drinking. Tennis, badminton, hiking, or even just walking the coastline. I find the problem much more to do with the availability of entertainment. Before social media and YouTube, you just got bored staying at home all day and would naturally go out and socialize. Nowadays, everyone is just plugged into a never ending stream of TikTok brain rot.
- jsbisviewtiful 1y agoI'd be curious to see a breakdown of this data by location/market and with sales data instead of a poll. I have a friend who works in the alcohol distribution industry and he's refuted these kinds of claims multiple times, but he also lives in a midwest state where there's not much to do but eat and drink so perhaps it's all relative.
- gwbas1c 1y agoI recently had a cardiologist wag her finger at me and tell me that recent data pretty much demonstrates that there really isn't any healthy amount of alcohol to consume. 20 years ago, when "1 drink a day is healthiest" was all over the news, I said cheers and picked up the habit. It's kind of hard to break, considering that I really, really enjoy the flavor of alcoholic beverages. Alcohol, as a solvent, allows for flavor profiles that just water don't allow.
- moi2388 1y agoReply to her that this is only true for populations, not individuals. Plenty of people who drink age well and plenty of people who don’t drink don’t age well. Statistics say something about aggregates, not individual data points
- kashunstva 1y agoSo how should physicians counsel patients, given that they have neither a megaphone large enough to address entire populations nor the prescience to discern the degree to which population applies to the individual or not?
- moi2388 1y agoYou can’t just test their liver to see if they have alcohol damage? Generally most patient who come in present no indications of alcohol poisoning whatsoever
- lotsofpulp 1y agoAlcohol damages more than the liver, and tests are not always accurate nor comprehensive.
- moi2388 1y agoAh yes. Tests fail to detect any of the detrimental effects of alcohol, so it’s the test that is flawed, you actually have severe damage that is somehow undetectable. Sounds legit dude
- OneMorePerson 1y agoThis is not a direct response to this article, but related to the topic of not drinking. I'm usually a follower of the latest data and such but I am highly skeptical of all the recent news about how drinking isn't safe in any quantity. The latest data can be wrong. No different than how there was a period of time where UV light was considered this evil to avoid, and now we know it's actually pretty critical to get sunlight in moderation (and completely avoiding UV causes its own issues). This seems to be a problem with US health science where they will find something bad like partially hydrogenated fats (a terrible man made substance), and then go on to claim "fats are bad" (this is back in the 90s ish). The health system just ignored the long history of diets that were relatively high in fats (actual good natural fats), and tried to use "data". Ultimately data is only as good as our ability to measure, which is limited with something like the human body. That overcorrection has since come back to a more reasonable middle point but still has some issues. It's undisputed that drinking a lot of alcohol is bad for you, but I don't see clear data for the grey area. If I fed a rat a whole bunch of vinegar day after day in large quantities it would get health problems, yet drinking a bit of apple cider vinegar, salt and vinegar chips, etc. are all fine, likely beneficial (pickled vegetables are good for you). I'm not saying that there's any proof that alcohol is beneficial yet, but the lack of clear data for that grey area of risk is interesting. In Japan for example it's believed that drinking sake in moderate quantities has health benefits. I guess going back to the sunlight analogy, it's hard to believe that a substance that has been around as long as alcohol has could be so toxic that occasional consumption has any meaningful negative effect.
- francisofascii 1y agoI hope you are right, but honestly I think alcohol is negative for your health in any quantity. I think there are indirect benefits, like socialization, bonding, etc. But it really is a poison that your body has to metabolize. It majorly disrupts your sleep which causes all sorts of health issues. Your body needs sunlight, but it doesn't need alcohol. I drank two beers a night for years, and I wish I hadn't. I still plan on drinking on occasion, but never plan to go back to habitually drinking.
- OneMorePerson 1y ago
- zingababba 1y agoI haven't had anything alcoholic in nearly two decades. Even when I was drinking it never got me any closer to getting laid. I quit because only stupid shit happened when I was drunk or around drunk friends. If anything nicotine acts as a superior social lubricant. These days I just drop acid, drink espresso, and consume the occasional nicotine pouch. Have never missed alcohol one bit.
- dadrian 1y agoIt's because GenZ is addicted to nicotine and millennials are all using legal weed. We've just replaced one substance with some others, rather than started abstaining.
- klysm 1y agoI don’t agree. There is a definite shift around health perception
- FMecha 1y ago>It's because GenZ is addicted to nicotine Which IMO speaks into failure of tobacco control and why "tobacco harm reduction" is a lie (dogwhistle, even) designed to sell and even invent more neo-nicotine products (vape and pouches, among others) while distorting smoking statistics (and statements - people saying they "quit" by switching to neo-nicotine products, while in reality they just switch their addiction intake).
- mensetmanusman 1y agoWe have the oldest population ever. This should be the case.
- cameldrv 1y agoIt's such a huge drop in one year, you have to wonder how much of it is Ozempic.
- lotsofpulp 1y agoWhat huge drop? I see 58% to 54% in the previous year. It was 62% to 58% from 2023 to 2024. https://news.gallup.com/poll/693362/drinking-rate-new-low-alcohol-concerns-surge.aspx https://news.gallup.com/poll/693362/drinking-rate-new-low-al... I would expect drastic changes after orforglipron hits the market. An easy to take pill that can help keep your A1C down and save money by avoiding excess calories and alcohol, seems like a no brainer for most.
- cameldrv 1y agoSo that's an 8% drop in two years. Put another way, 13% of people who drank alcohol in 2023 no longer do in 2025. That seems like a fast and dramatic change to me, but I guess it depends on your perspective.
- amonroe0805 1y agoI think the obvious reason for this is that alcohol is an order of magnitude more fun when you're socializing with people in person, and people just do so much less of that now than even just before covid. Instead, you're seeing people turn to "quiet night at home" types of recreational drugs. For me, I'd rather have more in-person social time and a few beers, whatever the health effects may be. The benefits of social time always felt well-worth it.
- anovikov 1y agoIt's laughable how young leftists manage to put every single thing that happens, in a negative way. Truly a generation of naggers. I can see only one negative explanation to it - "people drink less because drinking is a social thing and people socialise less" and there may be some truth to it... But all the rest is just positive. Costs: alcohol at home on average, is only 70% up between 1990 and 2024. Nominal GDP per capita is up 3.6x, so alcohol is 2.1x more accessible in real terms since then. Because real GDP per capita is only 1.7x up, the fact is that alcohol is down 19.5% as compared to everything else. It's almost never 'offshored' or otherwise import impacted - only luxury wines tend to be imported and these are a small fraction. So it's just cheaper because there is less demand - people drink less, it suppressed demand, and producers struggle to keep prices with the inflation.
- guilhas 1y agoAfter 2020, covid or long covid or something else, vaccine or not, a lot of people have been experiencing several prolonged health abnormalities, and health system are refusing or failing to recognise it. So a lot of people are trying to make sense of it and taking measures Vitamins, exercise and reducing alcohol are some obvious ones Besides there are studies about post covid and damage to the liver, pancreas, gut... A lot of these will have similar symptoms with alcohol excess or maybe compound with alcohol consumption