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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

#201

Post by _DeadFred_ »

DANmode wrote: post #147
_DeadFred_ wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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)…

Because not everyone is born into, or lives in, beach culture. that'll be the reason in most cases.

Why does it have to be beach culture? Where I live now we have:

Mountain hiking/biking trails started from the outskirts of town. Parks within town. A downtown with parks and a lake front park with swimming, volleyball, basketball, lakefront trails, small food concessions. A city skate/bike park. City tennis courts. City basketball courts. A walking/biking trail that runs from one edge of town to another, ending in a mountain biking/hiking trail system.

All of these things are way way under utilized compared to 10 years ago even though the youth population has grown. They used to be packed. Only thing busy is the library, I suspect because it has wifi/computers/gaming computers/air conditioning but it's still only like 20-30 people.

I rarely see anyone under 40 on the mountain hiking/biking trails. Ski mountain/biking has 20 somethings but most cars are from out of town. Parks are practically empty. Mainly moms and young children. I don't go to the waterfront park so no idea, but downtown I hardly see people heading down there/coming back where before it was a constant stream. Skate park is a few parents with young kids. Tennis courts are mainly 50+. Basketball courts are empty. Bike path is mainly 40+. Town seems deserted at this point, it's wild.

We have a used bike shop with basically 'donation' bikes that are $50 and have new tires, brakes, tuned up ready to go, so I don't think it's accessibility.

I guess most of these things are aged out things, where the group that did them is now 40+, but younger groups complaining about no third spaces there are a ton they just aren't used.

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

#202

Post by cameldrv »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #187
cameldrv wrote: post #141

It's such a huge drop in one year, you have to wonder how much of it is Ozempic.

What 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-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.

So 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.

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

#203

Post by fragmede »

Gigachad wrote: post #131
margalabargala wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

That’s just people who have friends and socialise are healthier. There are only negative health effects from alcohol itself. If you went out to all those same events and just drank non alcoholic drinks you’d be healthier.

That assumes you'd be the same amount of social at those events without alcohol. If a beer or two takes the edge off and you're able to relax and relate and socialize and you're happy, vs you're nervous and uptight and are alone in a crowd, you don't get the same benefit. It's not called a social lubricant for nothing.

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

#204

Post by littlexsparkee »

remarkEon wrote: post #168
atsushin wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I don't get this (very common) perspective that the 'burbs encourage isolation and asocial behavior. My experience growing up (born in Iowa, grew up in Minnesota) is really the opposite. I lived in the city but had plenty of friends in the Suburbs (Minnetonka, Edina, Eden Prairie, etc etc) and whenever I'd go over there for a sleep over or something we could wander around the neighborhood like our own little platoon…

Comes down to the execution I would think. I've lived in well-planned suburbs like South Pasadena with tree-lined streets, easy to bike, restaurants nearby but there are many where you need a car to get anywhere, maybe weaker social cohesion, etc that can be alienating.

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

#205

Post by cma »

mrtksn wrote: post #64
alcyone wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IDK if you're kidding, but I think you're right. Bar prices are a problem for sure. Beers at a bar cost $5 - $10 each, but a joint is just $2. Drinking and driving is a huge problem for people in the 'burbs and simply not worth the risk.

Why people are acting like alcohol wasn't the substance that got people laid and socialize for thousands of years? Of course I'm not kidding. Not going out and getting a few beers a few times a week is destroying the society.

1-5% of births in the US have fetal alcohol spectrum disorders

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

#206

Post by cma »

mrtksn wrote: post #76
amanaplanacanal wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lots 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.

Lot's of people get white collar jobs without going to college, this doesn't mean that college doesn't help.

Kids with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, 1-5% in America, are less likely to get into college or get a white collar job.

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

#207

Post by marssaxman »

laughing_man wrote: post #163
atsushin wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

The suburbs used to have a lot of those kinds of places. Car-centric infrastructure is not the problem. People used to go to church, join bowling leagues, spend Sundays in the park, etc. I blame the internet. There just isn't much demand for couples to leave the house anymore with the world's entertainment at their fingertips. When the rest of society stays home, it becomes more expensive for those young, single peop…

That was never the suburbs I grew up in. You had to drive to go anywhere, and it was spectacularly lonely. I've spent my whole adult life avoiding such places.

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

#208

Post by RhysU »

marssaxman wrote: post #207
laughing_man wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The suburbs used to have a lot of those kinds of places. Car-centric infrastructure is not the problem. People used to go to church, join bowling leagues, spend Sundays in the park, etc. I blame the internet. There just isn't much demand for couples to leave the house anymore with the world's entertainment at their fingertips. When the rest of society stays home, it becomes more expensive for those young, single peop…

That was never the suburbs I grew up in. You had to drive to go anywhere , and it was spectacularly lonely. I've spent my whole adult life avoiding such places.

Long ago, if you had to drive to go anywhere, your house must have been surrounded by oodles of other houses and hence friends existed to hang out with before some friend could drive. Once someone could drive, the friend crew was good to venture elsewhere.

The problem today is the nanny states don't allow a 16-year-old to transport other kids in their car until many hoops are cleared. We collectively decided that such social/transportation kneecapping was riskier than having our kids be lame during their sophomore/junior year of high school in the suburbs.

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

#209

Post by guilhas »

After 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

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

#210

Post by DANmode »

_DeadFred_ wrote: post #201
DANmode wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because not everyone is born into, or lives in, beach culture. that'll be the reason in most cases.

Why does it have to be beach culture? Where I live now we have: Mountain hiking/biking trails started from the outskirts of town. Parks within town. A downtown with parks and a lake front park with swimming, volleyball, basketball, lakefront trails, small food concessions. A city skate/bike park. City tennis courts. City basketball courts. A walking/biking trail that runs from one edge of town to another, ending in a…

Okay, a well-resourced town,

with public spaces and resources, then.

Where I am, people raised holy hell about e.g. a skatepark being built.

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