Awl for soap: how zoomers replaced alcohol and tobacco
Winemakers are sounding the alarm: zoomers are refusing alcohol. More than half of the representatives of this generation do not drink alcohol. Unlike X-men and millennials, zoomers are practically not interested in parties, feasts and intimate gatherings "under the degree". However, this picture cannot be called successful. What addictions are replacing alcoholism, whether it is possible to say that Russians have replaced the craving for alcohol with a sporty lifestyle, and what dangers await zoomers instead of drunken brawls — in the Izvestia article.
They leave alcohol in the past
It is customary to name the fashion for a healthy lifestyle and a conscious attitude towards oneself as the main reasons for the refusal of young people from alcohol. For example, it is believed that many people have already seen enough of alcohol lovers and do not want to live like them. Studies do show that young people, on average, consume alcohol less frequently than previous generations, Dr. Isaev's Clinic says.
— But I would not reduce it only to the fashion for a healthy lifestyle or to the fact that young people saw negative examples in their families, — says Ruslan Isaev, head of the clinic, psychiatrist, president of the Independent Narcological Guild. — These factors are also important, but, most likely, they are not the main ones.
According to him, the culture of pleasure itself and the ways of spending leisure time are changing now. For previous generations, alcohol was one of the main social tools: people got to know each other, celebrated important events with it, relieved tension, and spent their free time. Today, young people have many more alternatives: communication, entertainment, games, travel, sports, and digital services. And all this diversity competes with alcohol for human attention, the expert emphasizes.
— In addition, public attitudes towards alcohol consumption are changing, — the psychiatrist continues. — For many young people, alcohol is no longer a symbol of adulthood or a successful social life. On the contrary, the ability to maintain mental clarity, self-control, exercise, and look good becomes a more attractive behavior model.
In this sense, doctors consider the reduction in alcohol consumption to be a positive trend. The expert emphasizes that this result is largely the result of systematic preventive work and government policy in recent years.
"Even if no new restrictive measures are introduced today, alcohol consumption can be expected to continue to decline gradually as social norms themselves change," Ruslan Isaev believes.
Clinical psychologist Sergey Volkov also draws attention to the fact that young people drink noticeably less than previous generations.
— If we talk only about alcohol, the objective figures are as follows: 54% of zoomers claim that they do not drink at all, — he comments. — Banking statistics show that alcohol is present in only 19% of checks paid with cards of young people. And for older generations, this figure reaches 34%. Overall, the consumption of alcoholic beverages in Russia decreased from 8.8 liters per person in 2021 to 7.8 liters in 2025. These are the fastest rates of decline in Europe, and they are set mainly by young people.
Energy drinks instead of vodka
Experts point out that such excellent statistics have a downside. If we talk about the problem of addiction, then it does not go away, but only transforms.
—A person's propensity for such behavior does not disappear — the objects through which it is realized change,— explains Ruslan Isaev. — That is why today experts are talking not only about alcohol or drugs, but also about behavioral addictions — gaming, the Internet, and the pathological fascination with gambling platforms.
Addiction is determined by behavior, not by the object of addiction, Sergei Volkov agrees.
— Yes, zoomers don't drink. They also don't smoke, according to statistics. But the consumption of vapes and alternative forms of nicotine—containing products among zoomers is at a higher level than among other generations, the psychologist complains. — Over the past five years, there has not even been a complete statistical picture of this segment, because initially the "steam rooms" were sold without licenses or labels.
According to him, about 5 million Russians use vapes, but the proportion of such smokers among young people is not yet clear. This requires serious research.
— The chemical composition and consequences for the body from such "steam rooms" are so severe that one involuntarily remembers the joke that it is healthier to drink, although this is not the case, — says the interlocutor of the editorial board.
Energy drinks have become the main alternative to alcohol, which also cause concern for the health of those who use them, the clinical psychologist sadly explains.
— Officially, these are non-alcoholic products, which means that they are not statistically related to dependent agents. However, young people consume them in almost liters, which leads to catastrophic consequences for the heart and nervous system and causes dependence on energy drinks," continues Sergey Volkov.
At the same time, he emphasizes that one of the intermediaries of alcohol withdrawal was the transition of young people to a digital form of communication. Joint parties turned into a news feed and AI chatterboxes, which led to widespread dependence on social networks.
— This trend has less obvious problems for health, but they are widespread. If heavy alcoholism has always been mostly a marginal problem, then osteochondrosis, heart problems, and mental disorders like depression (for example, due to loneliness) are becoming almost common for zoomers because of their lifestyle," explains the specialist.
He sees a paradigm shift in addiction perception in the current situation.
— Alcohol, as a way to relieve stress and a socialization tool, has given way to digital stimulants and morally "safe" substances. This has created unexplored risks, but it does not solve the problem in any way," complains the clinical psychologist. — Sociologists and anthropologists know that craving as a form of behavior is part of the biological structure of society. That is, there will always be addicts.
Thus, according to the expert, society's rejection of strong drinks does not mean victory over alcoholism. This suggests that an alternative has simply been found to alcohol.
— The question is which one. But I think being addicted to sports is better than being addicted to drugs, and being a workaholic is healthier than being an alcoholic," comments Sergey Volkov.
Who defeated drunkenness
Judging by the comments on the Web, representatives of the older generations still recall with longing and nostalgia the old days when the smoking room at work was the center of communication, and alcohol was not forbidden. However, the basic settings have changed. Gone are the gatherings of the "whole yard", the reception of guests on a grand scale, the celebration of birthdays in groups, meetings on Friday "on the bench" and other attributes of social life characteristic of older generations. Some representatives of the "old school" are even proud of the habits of youth and associate the indifference of the zoomers to alcohol with the fact that each subsequent generation is supposedly weaker than the previous one. But Ruslan Isaev emphasizes that this is not the case.
— The rate of intoxication and the risk of addiction depend on gender, body weight, metabolic characteristics, health status and amount of alcohol consumed, and not on the year of birth, — explains the psychiatrist. — For a doctor, factors such as hereditary predisposition, early age of first use, personality traits, the presence of anxiety or depressive disorders, chronic stress are much more important.. family atmosphere.
To summarize, from generation to generation, the tendency to addictive behavior remains approximately the same — only the environment in which it is implemented changes. Digital technologies, online games, gambling services, and social networks have been added to alcohol and tobacco. Oldam can't keep up with the buzzers when it comes to fast food, energy drinks, and coffee.
— From the point of view of psychiatry, addiction is not directly related to the substance, but to the way in which a person tries to cope with stress, anxiety, internal tension or receive quick positive emotions. If such a behavior model has already been formed, then the object may change: today it is alcohol, tomorrow it is gambling or online games, betting, social networks or compulsive consumption," explains Ruslan Isaev.
Who uses drugs
Experts believe that if you remove only the object of dependence without changing the psychological mechanisms, then quite often there is a switch to another object.
"If we talk about traditional chemical addictions — alcohol, tobacco, drugs — then over the past 5-10 years, the indicators have improved significantly," Ruslan Isaev comments. — There really are fewer of them. At the same time, patients with gambling addiction are increasingly appearing. In recent years, the availability of online platforms, betting services, and digital games that use the same reinforcement mechanisms as many chemical addictions has increased dramatically.
Sergey Volkov explains that the first question that experts asked immediately after discovering the trend towards reducing alcohol consumption was "What's going on with drugs?"
— The answer, as it often happens, is very ambiguous. The general trend is going down: according to statistics, the proportion of people diagnosed with drug addiction has decreased significantly in recent years. But the proportion of young people among them reaches 60% of all drug addicts in Russia — these are people from 16 to 30 years old. And although the trend for adolescent drug addiction is still going down, having decreased by 20%, according to statistics, the average age of first use is 15-17 years, and the worst thing is that the number of child drug addicts aged 9-13 years is growing," the clinical psychologist comments.
He also draws attention to how the "range" of intoxicants has changed. According to him, zoomers have moved away from heavy opiates and injectable drugs towards synthetic ones, which are cheaper, more accessible and easier to use. At the same time, according to him, the chemical compositions are constantly being updated: there are cases when one drug has been banned, but another has already been released.
— As a result, we see that the consumption of heavy drugs is decreasing, but the number of "light" synthetics among young people is growing. This is not a solution to the problem, it is its transformation, which requires a change in both the control system and the assessment of use and dependence. Many drugs initially do not get into the statistics at all, since there are no such chemical compositions in any databases," explains the Izvestia interlocutor.
Society is transforming, technology is changing, and so is the structure of addiction.
Dependence on healthy lifestyle
As for the topic of health and the general trend in healthy lifestyle, from Sergey Volkov's point of view, everything is much more complicated than it seems.
— According to statistics, the share of Russians who adhere to a healthy lifestyle has increased from 52% to 76%. At the same time, 44% exercise regularly, and 23% have given up bad habits. Of course, the youth has become the leader in this regard. In general, 69% of young people declare an "active lifestyle." The most "athletic" age is considered to be under 24 years of age. And the absolute record among schoolchildren and students is 93.5%. This is the result of the fact that physical education is a compulsory subject," the specialist cites positive indicators.
But the statistics of visits to fitness clubs give reason to think. Their main audience (62%) is people between the ages of 30 and 54. The share of the "most athletic age" — 18-24 years — does not exceed 23%.
— Economic statistics also confirm the ambiguity. In 2025, the average cost of a healthy lifestyle amounted to 16.8 thousand rubles per month. Young people spend the least for these purposes — 6-8 thousand. Moreover, the main expense item is dietary supplements and nutrition courses," says the expert. — The creators of online courses know that approximately 80% of purchased products are not watched later. But the purchase itself allows a person to calm his anxiety: they say, he cares about his health, he is doing something.
The clinical psychologist believes that many young people imitate health care simply because it is fashionable.
—According to data for 2025, 33% of Russians include taking vitamins and dietary supplements in their sports," he says. — Young people spend about 4 thousand a month on this, and another 2.1 thousand on nutrition courses. That is, almost the entire budget is spent not on sports equipment, not on pool passes, not on sneakers or gym rentals, but on a tablet of dubious quality and digital content.
According to the interlocutor of the editorial board, such behavior, characteristic of young people, is an important "ritual" for imitating the image.
— This is called "conspicuous consumption": buying dietary supplements and courses is part of self—presentation, not a conscious necessity. 32% of young people generally buy dietary supplements "to relieve stress," which does not solve the problem of stress or health, but is a prime example of shopaholism — dependence on impulsive purchases, complains Sergey Volkov.
According to Ruslan Isaev, today prevention should be aimed not only at combating alcohol, drugs or other temptations. It is important to develop emotional self-regulation skills, the ability to cope with stress and have fun without constant stimulation.
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