CLOSER? –

August 18, 2021 – By the end of 2020, Tan said she was finishing multiple bottles in one night—until one particularly jarring experience forced her to reflect on her habit. “I remember there was a snowstorm in New York City in December right before Christmas,” Tan said. “I went to the liquor store and spent $80 on alcohol to stock up. I ended up drinking through it in three days, and that was a huge wake up call for me.” Tan quit cold-turkey between January and April 2021, and although she has been drinking with friends since businesses opened again at the beginning of the summer, Tan said she is much more conscious about how much and frequently she consumes—making sure that she’s using substances socially, and not habitually.

For some, a reemergence of social events has not been an invitation to resume using substances. Taylor Fogarty, a junior at Columbia University, spent years working in the service industry and managing bars—leading her to drink and use drugs regularly, especially during late hours. But when she quit working in the service industry right before the pandemic, she didn’t quit drinking alcohol. “I was drinking a lot during lockdown out of pure boredom and isolation,” Fogarty said.

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