Fewer people on Long Island and throughout the country are drinking alcohol -- but despite the drop, it remains the most widely used and socially accepted drug.
Local experts and business owners say younger residents, in particular, are turning away from alcohol in favor of marijuana, alternative medicine and social experiences that don't revolve around drinking.
Linda Oristano, director of the AWARE Drug and Alcohol Community Coalition in Northport, said the numbers make that shift clear.
"In 2015, about 30 percent of high school students reported drinking in the past month" Oristano said. "Now that number is closer to 20 percent."
She said binge drinking among youth has fallen, too -- from about one in five students a decade ago to roughly one in 10 today -- though alcohol remains the most commonly used substance among teens.
"Alcohol is still by far the most normalized drug," Oristano said. "But the intensity and frequency of use have gone down. Young people are growing up with a different mindset -- they've seen more conversations about mental health and wellness, and that's influencing their choices."
That's been reflected in the marketplace, too.
At Hamlet Wines & Liquors in East Setauket, owner Bobby Herbert said sales have slowed as customer habits change.
"Definitely, alcohol consumption is down," Herbert said. "A couple of different things cause it -- the legalization of weed, gummies, and then also the weight-loss shots. Those take away not only the desire to eat, but also the desire to drink as much."
Herbert said younger adults in particular are driving that decline.
"The 21- to 30-year-olds, they're not drinking," he said. "I mean, we used to start our day deciding where we were going to drink."
Herbert said the difference is so pronounced that state regulators have begun denying new liquor licenses in some parts of New York. "There was a report out last week that the state is actually denying licenses because they don't want old businesses to go out of business with the amount of alcohol consumption that's dropped," he said.
Herbert's store has been operating since 1974 and has survived economic ups and downs, but he said the cultural shift feels different from past cycles. Younger consumers, he said, are spreading their spending around. "People are spending $18 on a nonalcoholic drink when they could be spending $18 on a drink with alcohol," he said.
Other substances and behaviors have also taken hold. "Gambling too," Herbert said. "Since they legalized gambling, it's so time consuming. I see the college-aged guys doing it more often."
A few miles away in Port Jefferson, Robbie Lactig, owner of Roots Kava Bar, said he's noticed the same generational change from another angle -- people seeking alternatives.
"We're seeing a lot more of the younger crowd coming on and getting bored of, or not wanting to deal with the unhealthy properties of alcohol," Lactig said.
Earlier this year, the business was recognized by Yelp as one of the top seven emerging sober bars in the country. "One of their statistics was saying that they've seen a 300 percent year-over-year increase in the mocktail search term," Lactig said. "That 300 percent year-over-year increase is significant."
He said celebrities like Katy Perry have helped push the trend into the mainstream, noting Perry's mocktail brand (De Soi) is now on shelves in major stores. "It's just becoming more common," Lactig said. "You see that type of selection in places like Target. There's definitely a shift going on, that's for sure."
Roots Kava Bar, which he and his wife purchased last year, serves herbal and botanical drinks like kava, blue lotus and lion's mane. He said the space has developed a different kind of social atmosphere.
"A lot of times what's special about the kava bar is the environment is much different than your typical bar setting," Lactig said. "You have a lot of drunk and belligerent types of energy going on [at bars]. Not always," he chuckled, "but you know, at the kava bar, it's a lot more meaningful, deep conversations that people are having with one another. People are becoming a little bit more mindful and able to open up in ways that you wouldn't necessarily see at a bar."
He added that interest from first-time customers has been growing. "People are very curious about what kava is," he said. "Most of the time they try it and they like it. It's a different experience for them."
For Oristano, the overall trend is encouraging -- but she said prevention work remains essential. Alcohol, she noted, is still responsible for more harm than any other substance, from impaired driving to chronic health issues.
"It's good to see the numbers coming down," she said, "but with all the drugs that are out there, alcohol is still the number one drug. You still have the stigma attached to it. People that are stressed, people with anxiety, people with depression, you know they're co- occurring, so they say if you have one, chances are you'll get addicted to something else.," Oristano added.