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U.S. alcohol consumption drops to a 90-year low, new poll finds

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Re: U.S. alcohol consumption drops to a 90-year low, new poll finds

#111

Post by _DeadFred_ »

atsushin wrote: post #54
chiffre01 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anecdotally 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.

The lack of IRL 'third places' for young people to meet locally will only exacerbate the issue -- and probably should bear most of the blame. The car-centric infrastructure of the suburbs (well, the vast majority of America) encourages isolation and asocial behavior. It really sucks that for some, their lives will never go beyond that invisible cage.

When I was young we lived just as spread out. We just biked/skateboarded to places. We stashed our surf boards at the closest house to the beach. We made third spaces happen.

Why has that stopped being an option? Is it because people's parents are too scared to let them do it when they are young (we were taking public busses to downtown Santa Cruz in junior high but we were latch key 80s/90s kids with zero oversite) and so they don't realize it's an option when they are older or?

Re: U.S. alcohol consumption drops to a 90-year low, new poll finds

#112

Post by k_g_b_ »

gwbas1c wrote: post #103
tokioyoyo wrote: post #85

A 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 prob…

Does "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.

It doesn't, and people slowly realize - e.g. in beer country Germany: https://www.dw.com/en/germany-alcohol-free-beer-sales-double...

Re: U.S. alcohol consumption drops to a 90-year low, new poll finds

#113

Post by aaronbaugher »

atsushin wrote: post #54
chiffre01 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anecdotally 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.

The lack of IRL 'third places' for young people to meet locally will only exacerbate the issue -- and probably should bear most of the blame. The car-centric infrastructure of the suburbs (well, the vast majority of America) encourages isolation and asocial behavior. It really sucks that for some, their lives will never go beyond that invisible cage.

My town still has quite a few third places (the mall, bowling alleys, bars, etc.) and even some new ones like a trampoline place. Most of them are struggling because the young people don't go out. Go into a corner bar on a Saturday night, and you'll see more people in their 50s than 20s. The pool league that used to run 6 divisions a week is now down to 2.

So as far as I can tell, people (especially the young) stopped going out, and then third places started going away.

Re: U.S. alcohol consumption drops to a 90-year low, new poll finds

#114

Post by yahway »

atsushin wrote: post #54
chiffre01 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anecdotally 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.

The lack of IRL 'third places' for young people to meet locally will only exacerbate the issue -- and probably should bear most of the blame. The car-centric infrastructure of the suburbs (well, the vast majority of America) encourages isolation and asocial behavior. It really sucks that for some, their lives will never go beyond that invisible cage.

>car-centric encourages isolation Not in the slightest, in fact, growing up and just driving around when younger was exactly the peak of socialization. Being in a 15-minute city as a young adult would be horrifying, being exposed to the rampant crime, violent assaults and homeless open air drug use. You got it backwards my man. The proof is in the pudding.

Re: U.S. alcohol consumption drops to a 90-year low, new poll finds

#115

Post by margalabargala »

zevon wrote: post #106
chiffre01 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anecdotally 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.

I find this dichotomy a bit strange. A lot of people consume alcohol alone and in many cases this ends up badly for them (no need to speculate about foreboding - the body (and the bodies) of evidence is readily available). Cannabis can be very common in and around social settings, depending on where you are in the world. Other drugs are also pretty much everywhere, including social spaces. They are just more invisibl…

> the body (and the bodies) of evidence is readily available

My understanding is that the evidence suggests that light social drinkers tend to be healthier and live longer than people who drink not at all.

Re: U.S. alcohol consumption drops to a 90-year low, new poll finds

#116

Post by zevon »

margalabargala wrote: post #115
zevon wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find this dichotomy a bit strange. A lot of people consume alcohol alone and in many cases this ends up badly for them (no need to speculate about foreboding - the body (and the bodies) of evidence is readily available). Cannabis can be very common in and around social settings, depending on where you are in the world. Other drugs are also pretty much everywhere, including social spaces. They are just more invisibl…

> the body (and the bodies) of evidence is readily available My understanding is that the evidence suggests that light social drinkers tend to be healthier and live longer than people who drink not at all.

Which was not at all what I was taking about, or am I missing a point?

Re: U.S. alcohol consumption drops to a 90-year low, new poll finds

#117

Post by OkayPhysicist »

xnx wrote: post #109
OkayPhysicist wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since opium dens fell out of favor, the only psychoactive substances that have dedicated social spaces are booze (bars, nightclubs) and nicotine (hookah lounges, cigar clubs). This could change, but it hasn't yet. It sure seems like society's just swinging antisocial.

> the only psychoactive substances that have dedicated social spaces are booze (bars, nightclubs) and nicotine (hookah lounges, cigar clubs) caffeine (cafes)

Maybe it's just where I live, but cafes and coffee shops no longer have the expectation of being open to conversation with strangers.

Re: U.S. alcohol consumption drops to a 90-year low, new poll finds

#118

Post by francisofascii »

OneMorePerson wrote: post #95

This 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 su…

I 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.

Re: U.S. alcohol consumption drops to a 90-year low, new poll finds

#119

Post by afroboy »

gwbas1c wrote: post #105
throwmeaway222 wrote: post #29

i like my mind clear 100% of the time

One 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.

One drink lead to another.

Re: U.S. alcohol consumption drops to a 90-year low, new poll finds

#120

Post by gwbas1c »

afroboy wrote: post #119
gwbas1c wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One 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.

One drink lead to another.

For 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.

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