You and your mates are probably binge drinking less and using fewer illicit drugs than many would expect, according to the results of the latest national survey on all things intoxicating.
For the first time, women aged between 50 and 59 are marginally more likely to drink twice a day than their counterparts aged 18-24, and that’s just one of the huge generational shifts shown in the results of the most recent National Drug Strategy Household Survey.
Overall, teenagers are sinking fewer brews, too. 18% of those under 20 reported drinking over the past twelve months, down from 28% in 2013.
That doesn’t mean all drinking is down: more people over the age of 40 are likely to report binge drinking of more than 11 drinks in a session than in 2013. For the record, 28.9% of 18-24 year olds reported binging, compared to 17.6% of 40-49 year olds, but those numbers have fallen and risen, respectively.
The level of young guns under 24 choosing to avoid drugs, tobacco, and alcohol entirely hasn’t been higher in the past fifteen-odd years. However, those over the age of 40 are more likely to have partaken in illicit substances in the past year than they were back in 2013.
Experts don’t believe it’s because your parents are only now getting super experimental, though. Brian Draper of Eastern Suburbs Mental Health Service told the Sydney Morning Herald it’s simply a function of the big-boozing Baby Boomer generation getting older.
The full results of the survey will be released a lil’ later this year.
Source: Sydney Morning Herald / AIHW.
Photo: Inbetweeners / E4.
