Where have young wine drinkers gone? In the United States it is to marijuana and Australia is probably no different.
The Wall Street Journal reported recently that for the first time, the U.S. has more daily cannabis users than alcohol users.
Younger people have moved away from alcohol over health concerns.
And now the alcohol industry is confronted by an effort to have government guidelines on consumption tightened again.
For nearly three decades, the WSJ reported, federal dietary guidelines have said it is safe for men to have two or fewer drinks a day, and for women to have one. That could change next year when the Agriculture and Health and Human Services departments update recommendations that are part of federal dietary guidelines.
“For the first time, the guidance on alcohol consumption is being considered separately from the dietary guidelines. That has set off a struggle to set the new rules of the game. Government agencies, the alcohol industry and its allies on Capitol Hill have clashed over how much information about the process should be released and who should shape the final recommendations.”
Lobbyists for the alcohol industry worry that guiding Americans to drink less would be a blow to an industry that is already losing some customers.
In December 2020, Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) released revised Australian guidelines to reduce health risks from drinking alcohol.
It recommended that healthy men and women should drink no more than 10 standard drinks a week and no more than 4 standard drinks on any one day. Children and people under 18 years of age should not drink alcohol.
In April this year the government’s Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reported that daily cannabis use in this country increased from 14% in 2019 to 18% in 2022–2023.
Perhaps that answers the question “Where have young wine drinkers gone?”
DISCLAIMER: It is an offence to sell or supply liquor to a person under the age of 18 years, or to obtain liquor on behalf of a person under the age of 18 years. Under the Liquor Control Reform Act 1998 it is an offence to supply alcohol to a person under the age of 18 years (penalty exceeds $23,000) and for a person under the age of 18 years to purchase or receive liquor (penalty exceeds $900).
