Pills over pints in the city's nightlife

Fewer pints, more pills: that is the story Amsterdam's nightlife is telling about itself this autumn. NL Times reports that more young adults in the city's nightlife now turn to drugs rather than alcohol when they go out. The headline finding runs against the old picture of a night built around the bar tab, and it says something about how a generation approaches going out. The same report points to a rise in gambling. We have no wish to read more into that than the figures support, but the two trends sit together uncomfortably: both are about chasing a feeling, and both can slide from casual to costly without much warning. For anyone who works in or loves the city's clubs, none of this is entirely surprising. Amsterdam has long had a pragmatic, open attitude to drugs and harm reduction, and that openness is part of why conversations about safety can happen out loud here. The challenge is keeping that honesty alive as habits shift. For the LGBTQ+ scene, where nightlife has always been about more than the drink in your hand, the question is what a good night looks like. Many of us go out for connection, music, dancing and the people who make a room feel like ours. That is the part worth protecting. That is where Vibra comes in. We are building a community for LGBTQ+ nightlife in Amsterdam: find the nights you actually want to be at, book tickets in the app, and earn Pulse points for showing up, again and again, at the places and parties you care about. Loyalty to a scene, not to a substance, is the kind of habit we are happy to reward. Source: NL Times — More young adults use drugs in Amsterdam's nightlife, not alcohol; Gambling on the rise (2026-10-01)