Yes, I was 11-12 and got it from some freshmen/eighth graders who got it from God-knows-who

My psrents gave me a sip as a teen and I hated it. I tried it again at 21 and hated it then too. It was only a few years after that I tried something I liked.

There’s an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in my area called “Never Had A Legal Drink.” It was created by and for people who decided that they were alcoholics and had to stop drinking before they turned 21.

Plenty of people get into drugs/alcohol at an early age.

I didn’t drink any alcohol until a couple months before my 21st birthday.

Not regularly or often, but yes. It’s actually legal from the age of 14 here (under parental supervision and only lower-alcohol stuff like beer). So I’d have a bit here or there for special occasions like New Year’s Eve. From the age of 16 you’re allowed to drink unsupervised. At that point some of my classmates already got drunk regularly. I never liked alcohol (or rather its effects) that much though and to this day I’ve never been drunk. These days I might drink something like a glass of wine every few weeks or so.

I was 14 when I had my first drink and 16 when I tried weed.

I didn’t get proper drunk until I was 18 though.(Legal age here)

Overall, I was never a super heavy drinker nor did I get into other drugs. In college I would smoke weed with a buddy and watxh Doctor Who, and now in my late 30s I maybe have 1 drink every couple of weeks, and quit weed entirely.

Never had more than a sip and even that only in my mid twenties. The taste is vile to me and overpoweres absolutely anything, no matter what people tell me.

On top of that, I hate drunk people and not being fully in control of myself is something I’m deeply afraid of since I was little.

A little bit but never really liked it. I always liked weed a lot more and have been partaking in that since I was 13

I first got drunk at 13. It wasnt until 16 I was binge drinking around once a month and doing any drugs I could get(mostly weed). Around 22 I stopped drinking every weekend and stopped binge drinking. I wouldnt recommend it. But i dont think it had to much of an impact, except for having experienced a lot of crazy and dangerous things.

I drank and smoke occasional cigarettes starting around age 16.

However, this was the 90s, and that sort of seems to have been tolerated a lot more back then, at least in my area. I can remember getting busted with tequila at age 19 and the main complaint being that we were cutting limes on an antique table without using a cutting board.

And many of the things that are seen as huge problems with both alcohol and tobacco were just starting to get widespread attention back then.

I started buying my own beer at 15. I had a streak of grey in my hair, which helped.

I didn’t try alcohol until I was 25, but I’m definitely an outlier.

14 when I first got drunk, 15 first time I got dragged home by the cops. It was downhill from there.

I was drinking brutally when I was 13-15 and once again when I was 24-26. I’m over 30 now and can’t handle a can of beer

Started alcohol age 15-16 and pretty quick pretty much on weekends.

Yada yada yada now I’m 39 and quit alcohol because I realised I’m an alcoholic who got wrecked on beer and vodka. Not recommendable.

And I still smoke weed every day.

It’s legal for 16 year olds to drink beer in Germany so yeah.

I didn’t drink much until I was legal. Had the occasional glass of wine with a fancy dinner but that was about it until I was 20. Went out on my birthday and got a 6-pack of beer, wasn’t even carded, which was kind of a let down since I was happy to finally be old enough to drink.

IIRC, I had one can of beer and my room mate drank the rest.

When I was very young my mom was making bread with beer and I begged her to let me try it. Finally she relented that I could have a sip. I took one smell of the can and never had really had interest in trying again.

Thought when it became legal for me, but figured I would either waste 5 bucks if I hate it or become an alchoholic if I don’t. Don’t trust myself enough to assume I’d always stay moderate with stuff like that.

Now that I’m older, I’ve seen plenty of friends get deep into it then struggle through getting sober. Feel like I made good decisions.

Something to keep in mind is that kids aren’t generally allowed to drink in establishments or homes, so they often do so in public such as the park, and when they get caught they often get arrested and have to pay fines which can snowball into never getting out of debt.

Ofc.

And you know it.

You just want people yo assure you you haven’t made the wrong decision by not engaging in those activities pre-18.

Might’ve avoided some fun experiences, but also definitely avoided a few bad ones as well.

I don’t plan on doing so anyway.

So then you already know. So are you just here for “oh yes drugs ruined my life because I smoked weed at 16”- comments? Haven’t got any.

Terence McKenna - The Message

I tried beer a couple times maybe when I was 15 as my dad offered a taste. Kinda hated it. Never touched it until I was legal.

After I turned 21 I grew to like the taste of quality beers once in a while.

A few times my friends and I raided our respective parents cupboards after school.

Tried beer once, didn’t like the taste, smoked tho, still do but used to too,fr tho nowadays i don’t smoke as much

Starting at 16 I would occasionally steal sips of my parents’ liquor. They weren’t frequent drinkers, so they wouldn’t notice. I never went to parties though. I’m too weird for that.

Got drunk plenty of times underage. Had my fun, decided the hangovers weren’t worth it when I was around 20 and only occasionally get drunk anymore (and do my best to mitigate the hangover). Might have a drink sometimes and pretend it’s a cool adult thing to do or something, but I don’t really care for it. Never felt like “I need a drink” or felt any desire for a “refreshing” beer or a cider. I’m happy to try cocktails and things like that for novelty but don’t really care for the taste of alcohol itself.

I drink if I’m with my family for a prolonged period of time. It’s this careful maintenance of that very specific stage of mild drunkenness where I can stay jovial but not too open, and can sober up easily before bed.

I’m happy to get drunk in good company but yeah, I drink a lot of water and try to make sure to get properly drunk early with shots and then maintain with beer etc. so I can start sobering up before bed. I really hate laying in bed when drunk.

Somehow I do seem to have a pretty good tolerance for alcohol but I think it’s mainly because I track my state of drunkenness very carefully and drink either shots, beer or water depending on how it’s going.

I had the odd sip of my dad’s beer, little bit of wine with dinner here or there, some champagne at new Year’s or weddings, etc. but nothing that could seriously be called “drinking”

I had a shot of some fruity flavored vodka with my girlfriend when I was about 18/19 because she wanted to have a drink with me, and that was pretty much my experience with alcohol until just before I turned 21. Didn’t really feel much need to rush things.

When I turned 21 I was actually going to be away on an almost 2 week canoe trip during my birthday. I went to my friend’s beach house shortly before I left for that for a couple days. We got ourselves a case of corona a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black label, and some cigars and sat out on the deck having a couple drinks, nothing too wild.

Then after I got back I went out to a bar with a couple coworkers after work. Again, pretty low-key, wouldn’t be until a month or two later for me to really get properly drunk camping out at a music festival.

The minimum legal age for drinking beer or wine at a pub or restaurant is 16 years in Germany and many of its neighbouring countries so, yes, it’s not at all unusual around here to drink before turning 18.

Yes, we have quite an unhealthy alcohol culture here.

The only redeeming factor is that most people make their mistakes learning their tolerance while still being young enough to avoid getting in serious trouble.

If you’ve never touched alcohol at 18, you might want to be extra careful about it. It’s kinda cringe to watch grown ups not knowing their limits, because it’s assumed that they should know by now.

9 when first tipsy on champagne at A new year’s party. Generally had a beer with food from 14ish. Would get drunk regularly every weekend from 15. Drunk daily between 17 and 18, clubbing and partying almost daily. Calmed down a bit and restricted that to weekends from 19-20 but spent the whole weekend shit-faced. At 20-21, cut it down to just one day of the weekend. At 22-23 it dropped to only ever every few weeks but still getting pissed.

From 24 onwards it’s been only every few weeks but just getting tipsy e.g. ½ to 1 bottle of wine, with the odd occasion of 1½ bottles. Rarely drink anything other than wine these days as I live in wine country and have access to good stuff but do like a beer or a rum and coke too, especially if I’m out at a gig or club on the very rare occasion that happens. Rounds out to about 12-14 bottles of wine a year. Which isn’t too bad. Certainly a lot healthier than in my late teens-early 20s.

Yes, but I’ve stopped most of it since then. Had some great times, a few not so great, but in the end those were mostly good experiences.

Also alcohol is a drug, and one of the worst one.

i started drinking at 14/15.

No, didn’t touch it at all until I was in my mid 20s, and then it was only alcohol.

Not on a regular basis but sure I had a drink before that.

No. I didn’t drink alcohol until 21, and didn’t try weed until 25.

Just came here to say alcohol is a drug too. Saying “alcohol and drugs” makes it seem more harmless despite it being one of (if not the) most harmful drugs we know of. I know its a common way to phrase it, not judging, just leaving my 2 cents.

Also to answer your question, I had my first drink at 14 and my first cannabis joint at around 17. I still smoke weed but almost never drink.

I drank a bit from 14-17 then quit until 20

I took my first drink when I was 35. I considered myself an athlete and didn’t want anything messing with my body. Plus, none of my friends drank.

I started around 15. probably drank more between 15 and 18 than I did from 18 to 21.

Hopefully won’t try drugs ever, but I tried alcohol when i was around 17, while with my family. I figured it’d be safer than trying it on a random place without knowing my alcohol tolerance. I’ve learned that my tolerance was good, I didn’t find it good to my taste but I still think that not knowing my limits could’ve ended up in a worse result elsewhere.

Yes and I wish I hadn’t. What a waste of potential and life all those years were.

There’s no discernible benefit to this stuff for you mentally or physically so why go near it?

I don’t remember exactly when I had my first alcoholic drink. Probably 22? I remember not being in a big hurry to start drinking, and I remember trying a wine cooler and thinking it was ok except for the alcohol flavor. Wine coolers! 🤣

I probably started drinking regularly around age 25. Some friends were having White Russians at a dinner party, and I really enjoyed the taste.

Nowadays I don’t drink much. Maybe one drink a month? It’s a tasty treat once in a while, but I hate the hung over feeling which seems to hit after like 2 drinks even if I’m careful about hydration.

My friend and I bought weed once when we were 17, but we never got the chance to smoke it before a third friend ratted us out. I started drinking alcohol and smoking weed a year later when I got to college.

I have Asian parents… can’t be touching shit like that lol

I’m 23 about to be 24

I never even considered trying it… I was just so submissive to my parents… my mom told me alcohol, drugs, gambling was bad… don’t do these things… so I just accepted it as fact…

I mean I don’t really wanna live a life like some gangster anyways… so now I don’t even wanna start…

I lost a master password to a password database once and that shit made me even more paranoid about the idea of memory loss so I don’t want anything to do with alcohol or drugs…

I’m so glad my dad is not some gambler alcoholic like it is with the common trope of broken families… I’d probably killed myself by now if I lived in that sort of family.

When I turned 21, I talked about going to a casino just to “play a small amount” for funsies… but never ended up going since I was dealing with depression and that felt too extra…

(As for the porn stuff… I just ignored my mom’s advice…

This is 'Murica, tf you mean I cant see boobs lol… let the boobs be free)

Started at 13. Hard drugs a few years later. YOLO

I’m 30 and I’ve never drank alcohol or done any drugs besides whatever medications my doctors give me. Watching beer and cigarettes destroy my father’s life kept me ever from wanting to even try. Plus seeing how damn expensive it all is makes me super glad I never started.

I’ve probably got most of the world beat as kids aged around maybe 7 or 8 we got a bottle of patchene and half a dozen of us got stupid drunk in the local park.

But yeah didn’t do it regularly until I’m guessing aged 15 or so.

I think I’ve always been older than you…

I smoked cigarettes since 12, had alcohol as young as 14, but didn’t try marijuana or other illicit drugs until I was 19.

I think I had maybe 2-3 beers from 18-21. It wasn’t a priority. I didn’t miss anything.

I was a nervous kid. I didn’t try alcohol until 20 and weed till I was 31. They can be fun but remember your brain is still developing. Don’t really use them until that has stopped. They have profoundly negative effects on your developing brain.

And alcohol is literally just poison. Id avoid that completely if you don’t have a strong desire to drink. I say that as a neurodivergent that self medicates with alcohol. It’s not good stuff.

I didn’t drink until I was 23. I don’t think I missed out on much.

That said…I drink a lot now, so maybe I’m making up for it? lol, jk.

Drink if you want, don’t if you don’t. It’s poison, it’s unhealthy.

Yeah.

I think I started drinking around 15? Stopped around 25, don’t drink these days as I don’t enjoy the taste at all and my party days are over. Don’t regret it though, would certainly do it again at those ages.

Similar for drugs, but I’ll do a psychedelic every few years.

I started drinking when I was 16, finally stopped drinking late last year at 24. Been sober since October.