GEN Z are discovering booze in their 20s and could finally shake off their party pooper reputation, according to research.
Seven in ten binge drink, half smoke weed and a third have tried hard drugs, a study has revealed.
The Millennium Cohort Study surveyed the same 10,000 youngsters born between 2000 and 2002 at ages 14, 17 and most recently aged 23.
Results show 29 per cent go on the lash more than once a month in their early 20s, while for Millennials it was 25 per cent at the same age.
Some 49 per cent said they smoke cannabis, up from 46 per cent for the generation before, and 32 per cent take hard drugs, a rise from 27 per cent.
Gen Z is often slated as the soft generation as research previously suggested they stay sober, eat healthier, work out, and suffer more from anxiety.
But study author Dr Aase Villadsen, of University College London, said: “Our study appears to show this might not be the case as they reach their early 20s.”
Around 18 per cent of both generations are non-drinkers.
Only nine per cent of young people smoke compared with 20 per cent a decade ago.
The following generation, Gen Alpha, may never be allowed to legally buy tobacco thanks to proposed changes in UK laws.
- SOME 31 per cent of Gen Z men say wives should always obey husbands — twice as many as their dads’ generation — a King’s College London and Ipsos study found.
