Alc Most Prevalent Substance Used by Young Adults, Cannabis Second

Eighty percent (80%) of young adults 19-30 years old used alcohol in the past year (61.6% in the past 3o days), making alcohol the most common substance used, the "Monitoring the Future" survey produced by the University of Michigan found.

That was a historical low.

Binge drinking by young adults also fell to a historical low, reported by 23.6%, down 7.8% in 10 years. High-intensity drinking is also down, 3% in the last 10 years, the survey found.

If you wonder why the beer industry is struggling, here's your answer: Beer consumption fell 17.3% in the last 10 years among young adults 19 through 30 years.

You can't blame young adults for wine's troubles, however. 60/.7% of young adults drank wine 120 years ago; 58.5% did some in 2025. That;s not enough of a drop to explain the numerous bankruptcies, dramatically lower sales, etc., plaguing the wine industry. Over the past five years, the number of young adults who reported using wine in the past 12 months rose 4.3%.

Turning to liquor, the Monitoring the Future survey shows a dramatic drop among young adults use over the past 12 months: 26.3% in 2025 down from 47.3% in 2015.

Flavored alcoholic beverages showed dramatic advances among young adults 19-30 over both 5 year (17,8%) and 10 year (15.9%)

Cannabis was second with 41.9% in the past 12 month, and 28.8% in the past 30 days, followed by nicotine, 38.l6% in the past year.