ALCOHOL

Washington Post - The U.S. surgeon general wants to warn consumers about the health risks associated with alcohol. But many Americans — especially younger ones — may have already gotten the message.Statistics show that consumption of alcoholic drinks was trending downward long before Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy’s recent call for rethinking recommended limits and adding warning labels about cancer risks.

Alcohol sales volume in the United States fell 2.8 percent in the first seven months of 2024, according to IWSR, a beverage industry analysis firm. Almost every major alcoholic beverage category declined, with beer falling 3.5 percent, spirits down 3 percent and wine dipping 4 percent. Some of the biggest companies in the industry — including Pernod Ricard, Molson Coors and Anheuser-Busch InBev — reported declines in sales or volume in their most recent quarters.

Multiple surveys signal a drop in drinking among younger Americans. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’s annual Consumer Expenditure Survey, the average amount that U.S. residents younger than 25 spent on alcohol in 2023 dropped more than 60 percent from 2003 when adjusted for inflation. A 2024 Gallup poll found that the share of younger adults who say they drink fell from 72 percent to 59 percent in the last two decades. Forty-five percent of Gen Z consumers older than 21 said they did not consume any alcoholic drinks in 2023, according to a 2024 NielsonIQ survey.

For Gen Z, alcohol lacks the “unquestioned symbolic power” it held for previous generations who had seen it as a rite of passage into adulthood, said Kasey Creswell, an associate psychology professor at Carnegie Mellon University who has researched young people’s relationships with alcohol. Younger consumers, Creswell said, are more open to social activities that don’t center on alcohol and prioritize their health more than their predecessors.

NPR -    If you're looking for inspiration to stick with your Dry January commitment, you may want to check out booze-free gatherings happening all over the country. A Mindful Drinking Fest returns to Washington, D.C., this weekend. There's Mocktails & Mingle in Chicago, a Dry Vibes celebration in Kansas City, a Mocktail Fest in Miami, to name just a few.

They include tastings, music, dance parties as well as competitions and speakers, all aimed at showing there's fun to be had at events that don't revolve around alcohol.

"It's becoming a cultural moment," says renowned mixologist Derek Brown who started the Mindful Drinking festival and has helped popularize booze-free alternatives. The festival has evolved into a three-day event and attendance has jumped 10 fold compared to a few years ago.