The Sober Movement is No Passing Fad: It’s Here to Stay
Sobriety is having a moment. More people, from celebrities to business owners to your neighbor down the street, are stepping out of the shadows to claim sobriety. You probably know at least one proud sober person. And while it’s far from the cultural norm, sobriety today is less a mark of shame and more a badge of honor. It’s here to stay.
The tide is turning on alcohol
Whenever I watch movies that depict life in the early to mid 20th century, I am always fascinated to see how pervasive smoking used to be. People smoked in offices and public buildings, on airplanes and buses, in front of young children. Smoking was so entrenched in society that non-smokers had no choice but to put up with secondhand smoke. By the mid 20th century, more than 40 percent of US adults smoked.
Starting in the 1960s, this number began to drop and has been on a steady decline ever since. By 2017, fewer than 15% of US adults smoked. In just a few generations, smoking rates have more than halved. This trend was driven in part by the landmark 1964 Surgeon General report, which was one of the first times someone in government essentially said, “Hey guys, smoking is like really, really bad for you.” It seems so obvious to us now, but a lot of people in those days were unconvinced.
