Cocaine use among young Americans has fallen sharply, with 18-to-25-year-olds reporting use dropping from 2.1 million in 2017 to 811,000 in 2024, according to national survey data — a trend driven in part by Gen Z's perception of the drug as ethically compromised, anxiety-inducing, and tied to an older generation's nightlife culture. In its place, younger users are gravitating toward ketamine, psychedelics, and GHB, substances seen as less harsh and more compatible with growing awareness around mental health and wellness. Despite the overall decline in cocaine use, overdose deaths involving the drug have nearly doubled since 2016 to over 22,000 in 2024, a rise experts attribute largely to fentanyl contamination fears and the increasing purity of cocaine arriving from Latin America rather than widespread adulteration of supply.