Ask Lemmy

Gen Y here. Born and raised in a rural European community.

I used to drink (sometimes heavily) when partying when I was younger. From age 16 to 30.

Sometimes I smoked a cig while partying as a teen and smoking flavoured tobacco from a water pipe was pretty trendy during that time to, which I took part in at social gatherings, but never made it a habit.

In my twenties I also drank some beer or wine every now and then on my own.

But I don't do any of that anymore. Very rarely do I drink a bit of alcohol, but since it triggers my depression and I feel really shitty the next day, I've stopped doing it. Just not worth it.

Non-alcoholic beer is a godsend though. I really enjoy beer for its taste and this stuff lets me have a glimpse of that without the drawbacks.

Tobacco: no absolutely not, I hate the smell and just don't see the point.

Alcohol: extremely rarely, I have a well stocked bar at home, and used to drink alcohol a few times a month, but in the last few years two things happened.

1. I got a driving license and a car, I was 35 and got it late. I have a zero tolerance for alcohol and driving, no light beer, nothing, if I am going to drive I will simply not drink any alcohol. And since I got the driving license and car I want to be able to get in the car at any point in case of emergencies and not have to worry about having had alcohol.
2. I realized that alcohol was just simply annoying to me, I get hot, have trouble sleeping and the next day I am really tired and slow to get going, even after just having drunk a small ammonit. I apparently am a lightweight, and that it perfectly fine, alcohol doesn't mean much to me, so I don't feel like I am missing anything. I like the bottles of alcohol I have so I will save them for a bar shelf that looks cool. I do participate in toasts or celebrations when I know I won't drive, I even have four bottles of cheap champagne with customized ribbons for Trump, Putin, Musk and Orban to toast with when the world is spared their existance, but that is the extent of my alcohol consumption.

No to both.

No to smoking because it stinks, it's expensive, and it deteriorates everything around you and inside you.

And no to drinking because it has ruined the lives of everyone around me, which in turn partially ruined mine as well.

Polish drinking culture is devastating, even among Gen Z. Lost too many of my friends to alcohol - somehow each and every one of them who started went into a downwards spiral and became a shell of their former self.

My home stopped giving me the feeling of safety as my parents' alcohol-induced fights stripped it away. Same thing happened to my university dorm, as 9 times out of 10 I'd come back to a room that had vomit everywhere and my drunk roommate laying unconscious on the floor.

I don't know if I'm a magnet for these kinds of people or what, but because of that I've been against alcohol ever since I first learned what the word meant.

Fellow older Gen Z here. Atleast in europe to not drink or smoke is quite unusual. But i am the same. I just dont see any appeal in it. For me smoking is throwing health and money out of the window. And i dislike the taste of alcohole plus what it does to a human

I've never smoked and I don't ever plan to (it can lessen the effect of HRT) but I do drink alcohol occasionally. Meaning I drink maybe one cocktail or longdrink every two or three months.

No. I don't want cancer, so i don't smoke. I also was an alco, so I'm recovered now and don't want to go back to that. I'm sure my liver agrees with my decision.

I can walk to 10 breweries in 15 mins from my house in Seattle. I love the taste of pretty much any alcohol. It’s a unique taste that’s an art in either beer or cocktails or liquor. I used to drink almost every day because of this. I’ve since stopped drinking most weekdays unless it’s a special occasion, like a beer release, friends over, etc. and I think it’s helping me. I’m not addicted, but it was a little bit different to quit because it was a way I’ve dealt with every day’s stress. My first drink was when I was 19 in Italy (am American) and enjoyed a few cocktails on my trip (not wine or beer at first).

I’ve only smoked cigarettes a handful of times with friends in very special occasions. I did cigars a couple times a year. I used to do taobacco pipe once or twice a month for a few years because I liked the taste with a scotch whiskey, but never enough to get a nicotine buzz. I only smoke weed nowadays, probably twice a month, but mostly vape pens.

My parents didn’t drink often growing up, but they smoked well before I was born. I’m a millennial so going to college it was kind of expected, and I grew to like it.

I don't think this is unusual for your generation. GenZ seems risk adverse. It is surprising that you all drive before age 18. Many won't actually call somebody or someplace using your voice.

I enjoy my whiskeys, wine, beer and various other alcoholic beverages. They taste good and when enjoyed properly are part of a certain type of fun evening.

I don't like tobacco all that much, but holy fuck do I crave the stuff. My lungs can't take it anymore and I was always a very sparing user (ie the jackass who bums a cig maybe once a year, but never buys her own pack), so it's been over a year since my last.

And yeah if my answer didn't make that clear, I'm a millennial

I smoke cigarettes. Because they're fucking addictive and it's hard af to quit.

I smoke weed because it stops me getting anxiety and also makes my thoughts slow down and become quieter so it's not like a crowded room full of people having different conversations talking over each other.

I have drank alcohol, and very rarely still do, but I don't like being drunk. Just like the taste of a white russian or margarita once in a blue moon.

29 here. Kinda consider myself between generations.

I smoke tobacco, albeit very, very seldomly. About two packs a year, tops, plus a proper cigar roughly every quarter. Never vaped. Can't do weed, because my job is federally regulated and I get drug tested too often.

I used to drink rather heavily, especially during the pandemic - I'd put away a bottle of rum or vodka over the course of nearly every weekend. I still drink sometimes, but nowhere near as much or as often. Mostly taste-testing homemade wine batches, every couple months. It's been about a year since the last time I got pandemic-levels of drunk.

I don't drink alcohol or use tobacco/nicotine in any forms. As to why, I simply don't enjoy the experience of either. When I was a teenager I was offered and tried a cigarette. I hated the tobacco smoke flavor, it made my lungs hurt, and I didn't like headrush feeling. For alcohol, I drank a few times as a young adult and even got drunk a couple of times. I didn't particularly enjoy that mental and physical experience either. Even after that I drank beer a few times socially, but realized I wasn't doing it because I liked it, but to "fit in" or impress other people.

While still in my early 20's, I realized that if the only way those people would like me or associate with me was because I would drink, I didn't need them in my life. I stopped drinking entirely, and I'll admit at the beginning I did get socially pressured, but when I didn't relent, no one ever got upset with me nor did I ever lose any friendships because I didn't want to drink. I made it clear then, as I do today, that I don't care if anyone else wants to drink, even if that drinking is around me. I have no judgment on them for what they choose to consume (as long as they aren't hurting others in doing so). I will even buy alcohol for people I know that drink as gifts, because I know it is something they enjoy and thats what gifts are for. I have a decent collection of unopened bourbon bottles that I've never even tasted. I can get some uncommon bottles now and then. I've never had someone complain about getting a nice bottle of bourbon.

I will say I don't really like hanging out with smokers in confined spaces, but that has nothing to do with a judgment about their personal choices. I just don't like my clothing and hair smelling like cigarette smoke after hanging out with them.

GenX BTW.

no

I hate the tobacco smell (stink?) and 'hard' alcohol makes me nauseated, even just a glass. I do sometimes drink small amount of wine in social settings, not enough to get drunk. beer disgusts me though.

Nope.

At least not normally. I'll vape in certain settings, and do enjoy smoking socially. But that shit is so bad for you, is unattractive, and expensive, that there's really no reason to consume it on a regular basis. It's like dessert to me, in that I really don't need it all the time, I'm too focused on going the OTHER direction in life, so that when I DO consume stuff like this that's fun and feels good, it's in limited settings and quantity.

That being said, I'm really really weird and not like most other people in a ton of ways. So, largely, to each their own, but this is just my way.

I'm a millennial, for reference, my parents (mostly my dad) casually drank a bit when I was younger (like a six pack of beer on holidays, or a beer here or there maybe a 24 pack over a few months), but now that they're retired, neither smoke nor drink except for special occasions. Also neither of them are gamblers (gambling is super stupid and I see it as intellectually cowardly. You wanna take a risk? Go try to do something powerful in the world that helps people).

I don't really entirely like the effects of nicotine, alcohol, or cannabis, either. So they're very social-coded for me. If I wanted to be out of breath, I'd go for a run. If I wanted to be loud and stupid, I'll just be loud and stupid. If I need to relax, I'll meditate. They're self destructive to me, and my life doesn't need more of that hahaha

Like everything, there's a time and place for all of these. And my day-to-day life and long term health is not that time or place.

I do want to emphasize though, that we ALL have our vices, and we don't entirely get to pick them. So I will not condemn anybody that has these other than pointing out why specifically I don't.

Tobacco, no. I was on a construction crew one summer, everyone else chain smoked, I didn't, then I went off to college and a week later couldn't figure out why I was craving the smell of cigarettes. That was a rough semester.

Alcohol, 2-3 units/drinks a month. A glass of wine with the week's fancy meal, maybe but that's about it.

Cannabis, wake and bake. I use it medically, but could probably cut back a little. Not much tho, it manages a life threatening condition well enough my case got put into the literature.

The cult I grew up in was straight edge without all the ethics, so like even coffee was a big deal when I got free of that one

I'm the older end of Gen X, and have never smoked. The major factor in starting is peer pressure and I didn't have any peers around me at the critical time who did. My family didn't either.

I seldom drink alcohol and then I have only ever enjoyed cider - not beer, wine or spirits. This is just a matter of the taste for me. I simply don't like it.

As a kid, I had had grape juice and I had heard adults enthusing about wine as usual and I had a idea what it must taste like.

If you imagine a taste/mouthfeel spectrum with wine at one end and grape juice in the middle, what I imagined wine to taste like was pretty much at the opposite end of that spectrum to what it actually tastes like. I had one mouthful and had no desire for any more at all. I have obviously tried wine and the rest at various times since, but my opinion is basically the same.

With cider, I'll seldom have more that a pint or two a month these days.

No tobacco because ew and no alcohol because headaches

I was smoking in middle school and high-school. Decided to stop around 11th grade, smoked a few times socially in the next few years, then gave it up completely. People I know who started around the time I gave it up are still smokers today. I now live in an area where smoking is frowned-upon, so it's not something I've had to think about in the 14 years since I moved (in my country you couldn't escape the smoke anywhere).

Tried weed three times in my life and each time the effect was the same: similar to drinking too much but without the feel-good part. Black-outs, confusion, headache. Guess it doesn't agree with me, so no reason to try it again.

I grew up in a country where having alcohol with your meals is normal. I don't drink to get drunk, just enjoy a drink with my meal (especially if eating something like a steak or a burger, a cold beer goes great with it). Had to adjust when moving to the US, it's apparently weird to drink at lunch here.

Smoking has always been gross to me. It stinks from a mile away and the breath of smokers is horrendous. Doubly so for weed. I also think vaping sucks. Most vapers just seen to not care about anyone in their surroundings. If there's a vaper near me at a concert I find it hard to breathe at times, on top of not being able to see through their Thomas the tank engine sized puff of smoke.

I don't mind drinking but I've never been a crazy drinker as I've not needed it to join in on the fun. I've not drank for the entirety of this year but that's due to my adhd meds and I've not felt the need to actively not take them just so i can drink one night.

I'm a millennial.

Smoking no, never. I was a heavy drinker in my teens and 20s, gave that up because I was getting fat (I'm vain, deal with it!). At that time, I started taking MDMA and speed. It was the late 90s, so it was a pretty standard for the rave and alternative scenes at the time. Gave that up when I got Menieres disease in my early 40s. Now I have one drink once or twice a month, but mostly drink plain old water.

No and no, because I'm Muslim and because both are poison that will literally kill you.

Smoking: never, it smells awefull.

Drinking: yes, but not regularly and never alone. Most of the time in social situations and when partying.

Drugs: never.

Gambling: I play gacha games.

Drink occasionally, I vape cannabis flower often. I don't use all that much though, less than 0.35 grams a week usually.

I used to go fucking ham on the weed, but I quit at the beginning of this year, and had the most incredibly horrible withdrawals I could imagine. Literally didn't know you could get withdrawals from THC so bad. I had to take a week off of work. I was dizzy to the point of vomiting if I moved my head at all for two weeks, miserable fucking experience. Anywho now I try to indulge responsibly and take breaks often.

Never smoked tobacco, I would hit my friends nic vapes in high school mostly just try try their flavors, they made their own juice and were big dealers In the school selling it haha.

Why do I get high? Well I suppose I really enjoy the feeling of being in an altered state. It feels different, it feels good. It also helps me a decent bit with OCD symptoms most of the time, although I've read online it makes symptoms worse for some people.

I used to drink more during my college years. That and right after was the hardest part of my life, aside from now, but I don't drink as much now.

Joints though, nothing beats the convenience of a nice joint. Good edibles are hard to find, drinks are nice but pricy and rarely less than 10MG, and my herbal vape (not a typical vape) is nice but feels weak. I need to break off of them. I also enjoy rolling them, it's therapeutic.

I'm allergic to cigarette smoke and hate tobacco, thankfully

I drink occasionally. Three times so far this year, been drunk once.

I smoked tobacco for 10 years and quit for 2 years. Then started again, switched to vaping a few months later and vaped on/ off for 9 years (currently on). I did occasionally smoke cigars (when drinking) but I can't stomach them anymore.

Hallucinogenics are my preferred drugs but I live in a country where all of them, even weed, are illegal and I get tested at work. If they were legal and I had a reliable source of clean product I'd smoke weed maybe 10 - 15 days out of the year and do acid once in the summer and shrooms once around the autumn/ winter.

Beer, Wine, Mead, Spirits a couple times a week on average. I am super interesting in alcohol and its production as it pertains to our culture, biology, technology, and frankly our existence today. Fermentation, in general, is truly a cornerstone of us as a species.

I drink with friends, I don't smoke but I do hang out in the smoking areas though.

I wouldn't say it's unusual. Can't say there was much peer pressure to get me to start drinking. It just was an easy conversation starter. "Whatcha drinking?"

I think it's also one of the reasons smoking starts so easily. It's a really easy conversation starter. Gotta light?

It's not bad that the next generations are doing it less, but it does suck that they haven't been replaced with a new conversation starter.

I'm chronically ill so I can't smoke or drink. But I used to smoke marijuana and drink alcohol. At least at parties or sometimes a glass of wine with dinner. I sometimes miss it but not too much.

Friend of mine is basically like you. Never smoked, never drank except for half a glass of champagne on his 18th birthday. The closest he ever came to real drug use was when we were playing board games with friends in a closed room and three joints were constantly circling the table. At one point he remarked feeling a bit woozy.

But people mostly accept his choice. And even in our most egregious party phases he was constantly one of the last people to leave a party. So it didn't exclude him socially or so.

I've tried alcohol and it tasted awful. I made it through 1 bottle of Soju and then nearly threw up.
Don't wanna risk nicotine so I'm not trying it.

Weed is cool.

I'm a "Xennial" (born on the cusp in X and Millennial). I quit smoking cigarettes 14 years ago and haven't touched one since. I used to drink like a fish, but have cut way back just in the past 2 years or so. With all the articles coming out about how even more than 1 drink a day is bad for you, I suppose I should quit that as well, but alcohol makes fun times even more fun for me, and that's not something I'm ready to give up forever just yet. I'm healthy, go to the gym 3 times a week, excellent bloodwork, etc, so I don't feel the need to give it up 100%.

Not nearly as much as I once did. I quit dipping about 15 years ago and started drinking a lot less after getting diagnosed and medicated for ADHD.

I do enjoy a good cigar and a glass of Macallan occasionally but that's too expensive to be a regular habit.

I don't smoke tobacco, tried it once when I was younger, not my thing, didn't liked the feeling on my lungs at all, and I've seen how difficult it is to deal with the addiction from both my parents, so I never wanted to start. Weed smoke is a bit less coarse on my lungs, but still I strongly dislike the feeling (dry herb vaporizer is much better in that regard).

Alcohol I don't usually have. I might drink a beer or a whiskey in social situations, but haven't been drunk in the past 20 years.

Smoking no, alcohol occasionally. Parents are very lax about it so they buy it for me. It's pretty cool.

Nah. Grew up in a non-smoking family. Never got the taste for alcohol even though I've tried it a few times. I'm a sugar fiend though

I have a friend that I smoke a cigarette with at parties (the last time was several years ago so not a common occurrence) and I also have never once bought a pack for myself. If I drink it's only at social occasions and only if they have anything I like (and if it's not too expensive). I smoked my selfgrown weed once the rest I gave to a friend and I'm probably gonna test this years harvest as well. And while we are at it I also took LSD once and I would want to try shrooms one day.

I dunno if I am lucky, but I never got addicted to smoking , but I do smoke occasionally and drink (I do buy alcoholic drinks but I never buy cigarettes). I never smoke nor drank alcohol before 18

I smoke nicotine plants maybe once or twice a month ritualistically. It's genuinely nice in moderation (and something only a tiny, tiny minority typically pursue).

As for alcohol, it's GHB but toxic--GHB is better in every single way, no thanks.