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.
Yes, in short, because I like them.
For better or worse, booze is a big part of British socialising culture, so it’s unusual if someone my age (mid thirties millennial) has never drank, but a couple of my mates have gone tee total in recent years.
Why do I still do it? Beers with your mates whilst enjoying a beer garden or watching the footie is a pretty enjoyable way to pass the time. I’m also a bit of a nerd with it all so I love trying new beers, there’s been a huge renaissance around beer variety over the past decade-ish, so there’s always something new to try. I’ve gotten more into wine and cocktails in recent years too, and there’s a rich well of variety in there to experience too.
Smoking tobacco I generally avoid now, it’s nice to have the odd one with a beer but I’ll probably only have a few a year now. I regularly smoked last in my 20s. I occasionally have ended up with a vape in my pocket after a big night out, but I don’t really like them much flavour wise.
Weed is something I still enjoy, it helps me clear my head, relax, and kinda be more present with whatever activity I’m engaging in, if I’m smoking with mates it can often be a pretty hilarious time. However, it’s easy for me to slip into habitual use with it especially though, I don’t really seem to get much in the way of acute negative effects beyond tolerance, so I try to be mindful to keep it in check these days. I’ll probably try and relegate it to a treat for when I visit somewhere like Amsterdam in the coming years given the downsides of smoking (I’ve got a vape, but I basically never choose it).
FWIW I’ve heard that Gen Z is differing their consumption habits significantly from previous generations. Less drinking alcohol in general, preferring non-smokeable forms of tobacco/weed.
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.
There doesn’t appear to be too many bad examples in here, so allow me.
I smoked cigarettes for a long time and, at 59, got to experience lung cancer. I’m currently 62 and still dealing with it. I’d probably be dead now if the mass in my lung hadn’t adhered to the back of my chest cavity and eroded into one of my ribs causing a ridiculous amount of pain. Lung cancer usually goes undetected until it spreads to other places, like the brain, so I guess I got lucky. It did pop up on an adrenal gland, but we nuked that one too. I have another small mass in my other lung that will probably have to be radiated too. I’m also dealing with emphysema and a mouth half full of fucked up teeth. (So glamorous!)
Having no wind in my sails and trying to talk around and eat with both upper and lower partials just sucks all around. I’m only 62, but I feel like I’m 82, and I only have myself to blame.
I understand the taking responsibility part, but I think you can spare a little blame for the companies who sold those products knowing full well how addictive and dangerous they are.
I drink beer cuz look around.
i drink cigs and smoke beer
I started smoking and drinking at 12 because I thought it would make me look cool and developed a pretty bad drinking habit in high school and college. After college it got worse and there were some severe consequences. Finally got sober at 30. I’d been trying to quit smoking for years but would always light up when I’d had a few beers and since that was pretty much all the time, I wasn’t able to quit smoking until I quit drinking.
I haven’t touched either in almost 27 years and I’m so much better off for it.
No tobacco because ew and no alcohol because headaches
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.
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.
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
Quit smoking 25 years ago. Still drink.
Quit self-medication years ago because it’s lethal, killed my whole family, and right now we should all be hoarding money to keep it out of the hands of the oligarchs and tyrants trying to seize our land.
No drugs, done weed a few times may years ago.
Drink about once every couple weeks.
I don’t drink alcohol, as i have medical issues with alcohol breakdown products.
I don’t smoke, as i have seen relatives dying of lung cancer.
I don’t do other recreational drugs, as during the age where people get hooked to that shit I could barely afford food and had no money to waste, and now I’m to old to start such a stupid shit.
I only take the drugs prescribed by my doc, and that is more than enough.
I don’t do tobacco, I just don’t like it and the adverse health effects are well documented.
I do weed occasionally on weekends to relax, I’ll mix things up between a dry flower vape (Pax) and edibles.
I also drink on weekends for the same reason, relaxation. I usually have a set amount in mind then stop for the evening and switch to tea. I only get stupid a few times a year with friends.