Casual drinking is losing popularity with the youth

No wonder those after work happy hours have been so dry lately. 

Apparently, more Americans than ever see moderate drinking -- two drinks or less a day -- as harmful to one's health, according to a new Gallup poll. 

The last time Gallup posed this question in 2018, 28% of respondents felt moderate drinking was harmful. Five years later that percentage jumped to 39%. 

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Young adults have had the biggest change of heart. 

Just 34% of 18-34 year olds had a negative view of moderate drinking in 2018, this year's poll shows that number to be 52%. 

Women were more likely than men to have a more negative view of moderate consumption (41% and 35%, respectively), and, quite shockingly, people with no religious affiliation were way more likely than Christians to be more judgmental about a couple of beers (47% and 35%, respectively).

City slickers on the East coast and country bumpkins in the South were both more accepting of moderate drinking (34% and 35%, respectively, see it as harmful) than their counterparts in the Midwestern and Western parts of the country (44% for both). 

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But one of the biggest takeaways from the poll is that marijuana not only garnered a more favorable view than alcohol, but it was the substance with the lowest amount of health concern among a group of vices that includes e-cigarettes, chewing tobacco, cigars and alcohol. 

That data coincides with with another recent Gallup poll that showed fully half of Americans say they have at least tried marijuana at some point in their life. That is a new high that is well above the 5% that admitted to trying the drug back in 1969.

About one in six Americans, or 17%, say they "smoke marijuana" in the present tense. The proportion of people who say they smoke marijuana has more than doubled since 2013 when Gallup first asked the question. 

Unlike the trend with alcohol, Millennials and Gen Z saw the highest usage, with 29% of adults aged 18 to 34 using currently, compared to just 9% from those aged 55 and older. Adults age 35-54 use cannabis at the national average of 17%.

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