Millennials are less keen than previous generations on illicit drugs

economist.com

18 points·JumpCrisscross··9 comments

Same applies to binge drinking. Example: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-31452735

I guess when you have to work so hard to just manage a lifestyle that doesn't match your parents' everyone needs to get a bit more serious about things.

But isn't the "poor worker drinking to escape reality" trope a trope for a reason? Plenty of people who are economically fucked drink and do drugs to escape reality - often budgeting for it as carefully as rent.

My first guess would be that being poor relative to peers is more stressful and depressing and relates to more substance abuse problems. When hardships are shared among whole generation it could affect them differently.

No idea, seems measuring these trends is easier than finding the underlying causation. Perhaps enough young people have seen the state of the local heroin addict and thought, ok so that's not really a good option either.

In Europe, cocaine and pills (ecstasy) remain popular among the young.

These drugs are generally more 'social' which is why it's insane to see opioids - with their comparatively introverted high - be abused so much by millennials.

Who needs drugs when you can stare at a news feed all day?

This is promising. But on the flip side, seeing those graphs reminds me that one of the deadliest drugs remains popular with 70% of everyone.

Deadly as in absolute numbers, yes? Alcohol is the most popular drug, hence most die from alcohol. Imagine if 70% used heroin.

Its a good thing & not to mention-illegal.

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