How I stumbled into a major trend slamming beer sales nationwide and giving Gen Z a buzz

It’s not just Bud Light’s past misadventures in wokeness that are to blame for its persistent sales slump: The beer giant is falling victim to a growing trend that’s also slamming competitors – and I recently got a taste of it myself.Liquor and beer industry executives gripe that from their perspective, a grim cultural change is taking root among Americans.Whether it’s beer, wine or frozen margaritas, Gen Zers and Boomers alike are simply drinking less booze.Instead, they are increasingly going the non-alcoholic route.

That can mean tonics and brews labeled non or “zero alcohol” (even if they contain trace amounts).It can also mean weed, either in its smokable form, chewable pot gummies or drinks infused with THC, marijuana’s mind-altering chemical when they want a buzz.According to a Gallup 2025 survey: “The percentage of US adults who say they consume alcohol has fallen to 54%, the lowest by one percentage point in Gallup’s nearly 90-year trend.

This coincides with a growing belief among Americans that moderate alcohol consumption is bad for one’s health, now the majority view for the first time.”Also according to Gallup just last month: “Seventeen percent of Americans say they smoke marijuana, tying Gallup’s record high … Separately, 15% of U.S.adults now say they consume marijuana edibles.

The two previous readings (for edibles) on this question were 14% in 2022 and 12% in 2024.”Just to underscore pot’s emergence as a booze alternative, Gallup notes that “Adults under 50 are the most likely age group to report smoking marijuana, including 23% of those aged 18 to 29 and 25% of those aged 30 to 49.”So how did I stumble on this story and these crazy numbers? One night, while sipping a zero-alcohol beer at the bar at Elio’s in Manhattan, I ran into a friend who happens to be a major liquor distributor.He noticed I wasn’t downing my usual Tito’s martini.“You wouldn’t believe how much of that stuff I sell,” he told...