Fewer younger adults responding to the Gallup ballot are ingesting alcohol as extra embrace marijuana and shun the well being dangers of intoxicating fluids, the corporate reported Tuesday.
Among adults underneath 35 who responded to the corporate’s newest three-year survey on consumption, 62% stated that they had ever imbibed grownup drinks, down from 72% 20 years in the past.
Young adults additionally reported much less frequent ingesting and have been much less prone to eat extra quantities of alcohol than up to now, the polling firm discovered. Within the 18-34 age group, the common variety of drinks fell from 5.2 per week in 2001-2003 to three.6 in 2021-2023.
Overall, 61% of younger adults reported having a drink up to now week, down from 67% in 2001-2003. Combined with the declining quantity who stated they ever drank, Gallup estimated that the share who eat an excessive amount of alcohol fell from 21% to 13% of younger adults over the identical interval.
Pollsters attributed the development to a bigger share of non-Whites within the age group — noting that they historically drink lower than White Americans — and to rising well being considerations about alcohol amongst younger folks. They additionally pointed to the surging reputation of marijuana use amongst youthful generations.
“Growing public concern about the health risks of drinking, particularly among young adults, could be behind these shifts,” Gallup stated.
By distinction, the proportion of drinkers amongst adults 55 and older elevated by 10 factors within the ballot, leaping from 49% to 59% over the previous 20 years.
The share of drinkers aged 35 to 54 elevated from 67% to 69% over the identical interval. In 2011-2013, that age group handed younger adults to change into the likeliest age group to imbibe.
“This pattern is a change from two decades ago when younger adults were the most likely to be regular drinkers and older adults the least,” Gallup stated.
Gallup famous that marijuana use elevated from 14% of younger adults in 2013 — when the polling firm first surveyed the difficulty — to 25% in 2021-2023. Marijuana use elevated from 4% to 17% amongst middle-aged adults over the identical interval.
“Still, it’s possible young marijuana users smoke it (or use it in other ways) more often than middle-aged users, making marijuana more of a replacement drug for alcohol for them,” Gallup stated.
Gallup performed a randomized nationwide phone survey of over 1,000 folks from every age group between 2021 and 2023. For every of the three age teams, the margin of error ranged from plus or minus 3 to six proportion factors on the 95% confidence degree.
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