Views and Opinions on Alcohol and Tobacco During Childhood

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Looking back on my childhood, I remember viewing alcoholic beverages as some sort of "magic happy potion". The kind that will make all sad feelings go away. Even when my 2nd-grade teacher gave me a C (a severely punishable offense at home), my favorite dinner plate got chipped on the edge, or I got harassed in the street on the way home from school (I walked, since I went to a private school that didn't have bus service). No matter what happened, I "knew" that alcohol could make me forget all my sadness.

Of course, I also knew that alcohol was for adults only, and it's one rule I never questioned until my teen years. But I did question the inherent unfairness of it: full-grown adults, who have limitless power over me and "forgot what it's like to be unhappy" get to drink alcohol, but a child who has a very difficult life (me)---filled with mean teachers, strict parents, vicious bullies, growing up poor, and a scary chandelier at home---isn't allowed to drink it.

I don't even know how I picked up the idea that alcohol = happiness. Nobody in my family was an alcoholic, and nobody drank in front of me, although they did at holiday gatherings. At which, I was allowed to smell an alcoholic drink, but not drink it, not even a sip. Fortunately for my parents, it smelled bad enough that I didn't feel the desire to drink it. They helped things along by saying "Smells like poison, doesn't it?" or "Aren't you glad you can't drink it?" whenever I took a sniff. I'd laugh and put the glass back. The smell of "poison" no longer outweighed its mood-elevating properties when I started middle school.

Starting around age 12, I learned to sneak sips of liquor from my parents' supply. You know, the old "replace it with water" trick. I did it on days I got bullied particularly severely, after an emotionally violating therapy session, or when I got a C and was due to be punished for it. And by high school, I learned an even better trick. I'd just drink cooking wine (found in the same aisle as pasta and tomato sauce), which apparently, could be sold to me. To fool the cashier, I'd also get a box of pasta and a jar of tomato sauce, then after paying, dump everything else into a food pantry box, but keep the wine. Then I'd chug it alone in my room, to cope with the stress of high school and my first job. Man oh man, it tastes nasty, but hey, to my teenage self, it was nearly as good as Johnnie Walker Blue Label.

My views on tobacco was always much more ambivalent. I spent enough time around smokers as a kid to accept it as yet another part of adult life, but always hated the smell. (Fresh tobacco smell, like unused cigars, was much more tolerable, or even slightly pleasant at times.) My therapist explained that smoking helps people relax, but I never really believed it. At least not until I tried my first cigarette in college, at age 18. Then I started enjoying smoking, because it really did help me relax; and I used it as a stand-in for alcohol, until I turned 21 (drinking age in the US, for those of you living in countries with normal laws). I continued to smoke after that.

I didn't have any opinion on alcohol. I only knew too much of it was bad. I also thought drinking too much made you a mean person. That is how alcoholics were always portrayed. Though my parents drank occasionally, I thought only some of it was fine and it was only a drink for grown ups. But if you drank too much, you get mean.

As for tobacco. I learned it gives you gum cancer and it affects your teeth so I believed anyone who chewed it were all stupid. To this day I still choose to not do any drugs because of the affects and permanent affects it can leave. Someone out there might make me feel guilty and try and convince me it's all propaganda but f**k them. I shouldn't be made to feel guilty for making a choice to not do drugs. Even in high school kids tried to convince me to do them and one of them told me smoking weed would help me sleep. No thank you.

I'm 43, so this was a while ago, but I started drinking at age 14. I found I fit in much better when drinking, I wasn't so socially awkward. I actually became pretty popular in high school, I played football, but I don't think I ever attended a party or social gathering without getting drunk.

I started using smokeless tobacco (dip) at age 15, it helped a great deal with anxiety. I no longer drink, but 28 years later I'm still dipping. It's a problem, I've averaged as much as 3 cans a day, I'm at about 2 now, and at over $7 a can, you can imagine it's not a very cheap habit, but it keeps me calm and gives me something to do.

I would recommend against it for others though.

Just to get this thread on its intended track. I'm looking for what people thought of tobacco and alcohol when they were little. Also how and why they picked up their ideas about alcohol. For me personally, like I already said, it was some kind of "magic happy potion". In reality, that's barely 50% true; it only makes you happier if your pre-existing mood is OK or better. If you're feeling sad, it can make you spiral further downward, or simply numb you, but not make you happier. But either way, I didn't care; I longed for a substance that could make sad feelings go away. But with me being a kid, the closest things I could get were dumb crap like "deep breathing" or "imagining my happy place".

In fact, that's one of the things I looked forward to in adulthood: drinking alcohol. Even when I was 7. It was on par with staying up late, buying whatever I want, eating ice cream for dinner. And you know what? In many cases, although far from all, it really is a "magic happy potion". My happy times, like cruises or going out dancing, often involve drinking alcohol in some form.

I still think it's unfair: adults with full coping skills get to have alcohol, but kids, who feel misery full-strength, do not. Of course, there's that "harmful to a growing organism" thing, so as NTs say, it is what it is. Maybe that's why teens drink.

Sorry if I wasn't "on track," I felt like I stayed pretty much on topic.

I think it is very culture-dependent.

For example, in France alcohol is less of a taboo, as young children (i.e. age 5) will frequently have a small glass of wine with their dinner.

In my own upbringing, alcohol was never a taboo. I was also occasionally offered a small glass of wine (I didn't drink it though, as I didn't like the taste of it). We have French relatives in the family, hence a decidedly 'un-British' approach.

With regards smoking: no-one smoked in the house. We were told of the health risks. My parents told me of the risks, and also added that when I am of age they can't stop me, but they can only make me aware of the potential health risks.

I've never tried smoking.



RE today: I don't drink at all as I like to keep fit. Drinking (for me) is simply adding unnecessary calories.

That, plus I still don't like the taste of it. Nor the effects it produces in those who drink too much.

RE smoking: I still wouldn't try it. I don't see the point of it.

My views were highly negative. And they still are.

I hate the fact that it is more socially acceptable in our society to be an alcoholic than it is to be mentally ill, autistic or even occasionally eat fast food. I hate that everywhere I go getting completely hammered is glorified on T-shirts, posters, and cards for people turning 21. Which is really odd because the legal drinking age in Canada is 19. When I was in junior high there were 14-yeqr-olds wearing shirts of someone in a taxi saying "Liquor store. Hurry!"

My mother smoked like a chimney, and drank a little during pregnancy.

It has been proven that both could cause various congenital conditions.

I don't believe it's conclusive that all this has caused my "problems," though.

My dad used to smoke a lot during my childhood (6 packs a day), so whenever I catch a whiff of Marlboro reds it takes me back to a place. I'd say it makes me feel like I'm home.

I was 12 when he quit.

Unfortunately, alcoholism runs in my family tree. I saw first hand what it can do to an uncle, so that greatly influenced me to stay away from consuming it at a young age. I later found out that I am allergic to alcohol.

My family has a bad history of contracting COPD from smoking cigerettes. I lost my father, 2 uncles, 1 aunt and a grandfather to it over the years. That is not a fun way to go. It greatly influenced me from my youth to never touch the stuff. My sister has not learned the lesson yet, as she still smokes. She thinks that it will never get her.

When I was young I thought alcohol was bad. As I grew up I came into the wisdom to realize that was not only bad, it is a poison to the mind and body, and it is immoral, irrational, and self-destructive practice to consume it. That is why I am a lifelong teetotaler and prohibitionist. Alcohol gives the illusion of help through pleasure, when it is really a mechanism for misery.

When I was young, I thought alcohol was good. As I grew up, I came into the wisdom to realize that it was not only good, it was one the main reasons why adulthood was so nice and it brought great joy to adults to consume it. That is why I am a lifelong beer and liquor lover. (Wine, not so much.) Alcohol gives the feeling of joy and carefree exhilaration, obscuring the misery and making the world sparkle.

In fact, as a kid, I believed that Society made alcohol for adults only as a way of ensuring that kids don't enjoy their lives too much. ("Society" is capitalized because I used it a proper collective noun for any and all authority figures: family, academic, and political. This word almost always carried a negative connotation.) In other words, to keep up a certain level of unhappiness in kids' lives. So when I learned to replace liquor with water, and later, to chug bad cooking wine, I felt like I outsmarted Society. Less so for smoking, because I was already of age when I picked up the habit. Unlike with alcohol, I had strong brand loyalty with cigarettes.

Oh, and by the way, me paralleling your quote was a non-subtle way to point out how preachy it came off. I'll take the illusion of pleasure over real misery any day.

You keep telling yourself that.

Reality is, any extreme is extreme. Alcohol is still better (read: healthier) than anything your doctor will prescribe you in a pill. I had a PTSD episode two weeks ago, I thought I was a goner. I uncorked a bottle of wine and drank half a glass. In 30 minutes the knot in my chest loosened up and I went to bed. I was functioning the next day. It's all about moderation.

Also, believe what you want, but AS is not the "cute syndrome". There is a reason why alcohol is called a "social lubricant", and you autistic folks need all help you can get.

Last edited by r00tb33r on 06 Jun 2016, 9:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I kind of agree with this. I was a mildly stupid (perhaps just overly obedient) child, and so when they said don't drink- I didn't.
Well, until I went to a party and got drugged sort of and drank a ton of alcohol- not knowing what it was and wondering why it felt so "burning and hot".
I didn't like the feeling at the time.

After I turned 21- I got reallllllly into alcohol. Never alcoholic- it's not addictive to me, just something to blunt the feelings/my perception, but when I started to have medical issues from it I just stopped and only drink as long as I want to and it feels good.

I was told smoking was bad too- then all my friends and international (ie not american) friends/co-workers I knew were smokers, and so I would hang around them but never got into smoking- mostly because of medical issues.

I had a couple of drinks here and there, never really saw it as a bad thing though, so long as you don't have too much of it.
Never smoked though and never will, all that does is kills you.

My father also smoked like a chimney; I hated cigarettes with an almost manic passion.