I'll be 24 tomorrow (Thursday), first time I drank was my last year of high school, only a handful of times. I barely drank at all from age 19-22. I didn't smoke my first cigarette until I was 22 and didn't try pot till I was 22. The only "heavier" drug I have tried is LSD once this past spring. I only drink when I go to parties, so 4 to 5 times a month and may smoke the odd cigarette when I'm drinking. I smoke weed maybe once or twice a month usually when I'm out partying with my stoner friends. I've never bought a pack of cigarettes or bought weed and don't keep alcohol in my house.
In my experience and from my observations smoking starts as a social lubricant. As others have mentioned it is easier to spark a conversation with people when you are all outside of a bar having a smoke. You are much more likely to get to know people if you go outside with the smokers, not necessarily to smoke but just to be with the group than if you stay inside with the other 1 or 2 non-smokers.
Drinking in my experience is similar to smoking it can also start as a social lubricant, by removing inhibitions it can turn a wall flower into a social butterfly. It also has that "fun factor" where you just find yourself laughing at everything. This is usually why I drink, it makes a party more fun, its hard to explain it any other way, its just something you know when you experience it.
Pot for many is an alternative to drinking and is used for that "fun factor". I prefer to drink given the choice, pot just really isn't my thing. When I do smoke, its usually, you guessed it, a social lubricant. Smoking a joint with some people you just met earlier in the night opens up the opportunity for conversation. There are a lot of people I hang out with that I never would have if I hadn't smoked with them that one night.
LSD... thats a tricky one. When I did it I was already pretty drunk and when it kicked in, well I went on a magic carpet ride. I've never experienced anything like an acid trip, it wasn't scary, can't say it was super fun, it was just experiencing the world in a whole new way. I have no desire to do it again, it was just a one time deal for me.
Those are my observations on why I partake or don't in those activities.
However, where being an addict comes into play, really comes down to why you do it or how you do it. I suffered from clinical depression in the past and have an anxiety disorder and have seen a psychiatrist regularly for about 4 years now. Smoking, drinking and drugs have come up multiple times in our conversations. From what I have learned, through hours of talking with a professional and research I have done, an addict uses any of the above mentioned substances as an escape from reality, a way to avoid facing problems in life or as a (poor) coping mechanism for dealing with hardships in life.
When I was depressed I would buy a bottle of rum and suck on it while playing vids online with some friends that were also drinking, it was an escape from all the shit that was going on in life. My girlfriend had just broken up with my and drinking allowed me to forget about her and stop feeling sorry for myself for a few hours, it was a poor way of coping with problems I was dealing with. Around the same time I was having to deal with asshole boses and idiot co-workers at work. Playing vids and drinking let me unwind and forget about that but again it was only temporary and it wasn't dealing with the actually issues, it was just an escape. Eventually I hit rock bottom and ended up in hospital, I haven't kept alcohol in my house since then.
So thats my story, every word is true.
TL
R version: IMO Alcohol and smoking make great social lubricants. Alcohol and pot/other drugs have a great "fun factor". When you use any of these substances to avoid facing your problems or to escape from reality/life you may be crossing into addict territory.
Hope this helps.
