Buds or Booze? Gen Z Goes for the Healthier Option
According to a recent survey, Gen Z, defined as those from 18 to 24, prefer marijuana to alcohol. 69% of young people in this age group would rather smoke a bowl than drink beer or do shots. A similar trend is observed in other age groups – all the way up to 44-year-olds – but the stance of Gen Z is especially important as these people will decide our future going forward.
Their recreational habits don’t stop at cannabis either. Magic mushrooms, or simply shrooms, also emerge as an important part of young adults’ psychedelic diet. As one of the reasons to say ‘no’ to alcohol and ‘yes’ to something else, young people cite their wish to lead a healthier lifestyle.
Stakeholders Are Ready to Adapt to Changing Attitudes
Exactly half of Gen Z’s aren’t of legal age yet and thus don’t have the purchasing power when it comes to mind-altering substances. The other half, however – those 21 and older – can legally buy liquor (and weed where it has been legalized). It’s estimated that these young people have $360 billion of disposable income – a hefty chunk for those in the inebriation industry.
The most farsighted (or daring) are already trying to secure a foothold in the future market. Last month, the maker of Sam Adams beer, Boston Beer Co., launched a THC-infused beverage, and Cowen Inc., a financial company that monitors the cannabis sector, bets on the rise of large multi-state cannabis operators. Their bullish expectations are based, among other things, on the shift in attitude. Between 2002 and 2008, young people aged 18 to 25 still thought that being high a couple of times a week was riskier than parting with alcohol. From 2008 to 2019, the answer to the same question was exactly the opposite: young people viewed drinking as riskier compared to smoking pot.
Is Weed Really the Healthier Vice?
Many health professionals caution that consuming cannabis isn’t as innocuous as advocates want the public to believe. And the most concerns are raised when it comes to the early onset of use.
There is enough evidence to link marijuana smoking to an increased risk of schizophrenia and some other forms of psychosis. However, critics point out that correlation doesn’t mean causation and there may be a common underlying cause that both leads to mental illness and makes a person more likely to use weed.
There’s a more substantiated claim that the younger you are when you start using marijuana, the higher the risk of becoming dependent – meaning the inability to moderate consumption, constant cravings, and issues in the family or at work. One thing is certain, though – drinking also leads to these as well as more serious problems.
