It's a Good News/Bad News Report on Booze

Americans may finally be easing up on the booze, but doctors say a toast may be premature. A new study in the Annals of Internal Medicine finds that both overall drinking and heavy drinking among adults dipped between 2022 and 2024—the first downturn seen since alcohol use spiked early in the COVID era, reports CNN. "We've seen this before, where there is a spike in alcohol use after traumatic population-wide events," Priscilla Martinez-Matyszczyk of the Alcohol Research Group nonprofit tells NBC News, adding that drinking also spiked after 9/11.

Per the new research, the share of those who drank at any point over the last year fell by about 2%, and heavy drinking by more than 8%, though both remain above 2018 levels. Younger adults are driving the pullback: Gen Z reported the biggest drop in drinking at all, while heavy use among millennials plunged 17%. Researchers suspect shifting social norms, "sober-curious" trends, and cannabis use may play a role, per CNN. The trouble spot: people ages 50 to 64, whose heavy drinking is up more than 36% since 2018, leaving them at heightened risk for liver disease, cancer, and heart problems.