Inspired by another question on this community about “the first time you drank alcohol”, so I was just feeling like I’m the odd one out here.
I personally have never smoked (neither tobacco nor weed), never drank any alcohol. (Parents also don’t do smoking, or drinking, or gambling so I kinda got lucky with the environment I grew up in, I guess…) Is that unusual? Gen Z btw.
I smoked cigarrettes and drank alcohol for years, started when I was fifteen and stopped cold turkey when I turned thirty. That was sixteen years ago.
Tobacco was way harder to stop since my habit was up to about two or two and a half packs a day. My alcohol consumption was very high too, entire bottles of whatever I could get my hands on. I would “pregame” at my own house while getting ready to go to a party or nightclub and that would be my first bottle of the that night. But it is no comparison to how the lack of tobacco made me feel.
Both my parents were/are heavy smokers, my dad had a heart attack due to his smoking habit ten years ago. I still miss him. My mom still smokes and she is not interested in stopping.
I now know I was self medicating so I could survive trauma and cope in school (ADHD and CPTSD is a rough combo) and a great part of overcoming substance abuse, was the love and care of my husband. He pushed me to want to be a better person and stay around longer in better conditions.