VIDEO – NONE TOO SOON –
Jan. 1, 2025 – Cierra Boone, 25, has been sober for almost three years. Her abstinence weaves into a larger trend: Gen Zers, those born between 1997 and 2012, are not drinking, and they haven’t been. Between 2001 and 2023, global research firm Gallup reported a 11% dip in adults between the ages of 18-34 who had at least one alcoholic beverage within the past week. “I don’t think it’s a blip at this point. If anything, I think this trend is going to continue to strengthen,” Dr. Jared Harp, addiction psychiatrist at Cleveland Clinic, told USA TODAY.
Drinking for the first time in her teens, Boone told USA TODAY that for years, alcohol served as a form of escapism. From a family that struggles with addiction and mental illness, she is choosing a different path. “I’m sure my liver is happy and honestly, it’s brought me closer to people I drifted away from while I was in active alcoholism,” Boone, of Cooter, Missouri, told USA TODAY. “It’s made me feel a lot more grounded … and honestly, it’s brought me closer to God, and that’s the biggest benefit of it all for me.”
