The Gallup poll has revealed a shift in consumption trends among young adults, indicating that fewer of them are opting for alcohol while more are turning to marijuana. According to the company’s recent three-year survey, 62% of respondents under the age of 35 reported ever having consumed alcoholic beverages, a decrease from the 72% recorded two decades ago.
Furthermore, the survey highlighted that young adults are drinking less frequently and in smaller quantities compared to previous years. Within the 18-34 age bracket, the average weekly alcohol intake dropped from 5.2 drinks between 2001 and 2003 to 3.6 drinks between 2021 and 2023. The proportion of young adults who had consumed alcohol within the past week also decreased from 67% (2001-2003) to 61%, and consequently, Gallup estimated that the portion of young adults engaging in excessive alcohol consumption decreased from 21% to 13% during the same period.
Gallup attributed this trend to several factors, including a larger representation of non-White individuals in the age group who historically consume less alcohol than White Americans. Additionally, growing apprehensions among young people about the health risks associated with alcohol consumption and the increasing popularity of marijuana use among younger generations were cited as contributing factors to this shift. In contrast, the survey found that the percentage of drinkers among adults aged 55 and older experienced a 10-point increase, rising from 49% to 59% over the past two decades. Among the 35-54 age group, the percentage of drinkers increased from 67% to 69%, surpassing young adults as the age group most likely to consume alcohol. This reversal represents a departure from the trend observed two decades ago when younger adults were the primary consumers of alcohol.
Gallup’s findings also indicated a rise in marijuana use, increasing from 14% among young adults in 2013 (the year of the first survey on this topic) to 25% in the 2021-2023 period. For middle-aged adults, marijuana use increased from 4% to 17% over the same timeframe. However, Gallup speculated that young marijuana users might partake more frequently than their middle-aged counterparts, suggesting that marijuana could be serving as a substitute for alcohol among younger individuals. The survey was conducted through a randomized national telephone survey, encompassing over 1,000 respondents from each age group between 2021 and 2023. The margin of error for each age group ranged from plus or minus 3 to 6 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.
