When did you start drinking?

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Big_Metal2470@reddit

But kids today drink way less. I don't really see it as a bad thing.

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Beneficial-You663@reddit

I teach high school. They don’t drink much, but I swear they are all vaping thc.

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MelodicToken@reddit

I have taught my 13yo that “lungs are for air, and only air”. I guess I better start talking about the nasty chemicals in vape solutions.

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Divainthewoods@reddit

You're absolutely correct. They seem to have easier access to a wide variety of vapes than to alcohol. I'm assuming that's the main reason.

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Big_Metal2470@reddit

My kid seems to equate any use with addiction, and I'm not trying to dissuade him

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DragonFaery13@reddit

I was also 14, my daughter waited until she was 21.

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Taurusmoon66@reddit

12 yo, Schlitz beer, you never forget your first. Corona zero now, when I do.

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I literally was sneaking drinks from the liquor cabinets as young as i remember, i clearly remember my father sharing beers with me when i was as young as 8, by highschool unsurprisingly full blown alcoholic. Father was a bad alcoholic if you hadn't guessed.

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Feisty_Butterfly8219@reddit

We snuck vodka out of a friend’s house in shampoo bottles. It smelled like “gee your hair smells terrific” because of the bottles, but somehow did not taste like it. We drank it in the woods and then got chased by the cops and ended up in a cow pasture. Thankfully the cops gave up, but we had to walk 2-3 miles home.

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eatingganesha@reddit

when I was 16. I used to keep a bottle of peach schnapps in my trench coat inner pocket and sip on it all day. My family was horrifically abusive and I was basically self-medicating low dose style to make it through the last year or two with those AHs.

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90_ina_65@reddit

I "stole" my first beer of my dad's at 4 or 5, not really knowing what I was doing. Started really drinking at 11, mostly cheap garbage

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Mysterious-Being5043@reddit

I was 15, but I don’t drink much at all anymore.

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MymanTroyAikman8@reddit

Also 15. My kids are horrified when I tell them that. Hey, it was a small town. There was nothing else to do 🤷🏻‍♀️

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FAx32@reddit

And we'd generally get hammmmmmmered when we got the opportunity. I was drunk more times between 14 and 21 than in the 35 years after.

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beaushaw@reddit

I was drunk more times between 14 and 21 than in the 35 years after.

Same here. I literally can not remember the last time I was drunk. It has been decades.

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HeyDugeeeee@reddit

Me too. Each Friday we'd go out after school, buy a big bottle of Olde English cider and sit in the park getting blootered until the warden kicked us out.

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Homr_Zodyssey@reddit

Blootered? That's a new one on me. 🤣

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jennibear310@reddit

Same! Definitely drank waaaay more before 21! Heck, I was getting served at 15-16 at a local bar!

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MarathonerGirl@reddit

I was also 14. My first hangover lasted for 2 days. Getting drunk as a teen was so much fun though! Now I’m 51 and cannot have more than 1 drink each night or else the headache in the morning will ruin my day 😅

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Charming-Insurance@reddit

My first was 14 as well. We got a 4 pack of B&J and my two besties shared… I got the one leftover. Wasted!

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pin00ch@reddit

Used to get fucked on my Gran's sherry at 12. Carries on from there.

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pokeysyd@reddit

Yes!!! About 14 to 25 for me. Now I maybe get tipsy once or twice a year.

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FuggaDucker@reddit

I quit at 55.

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dj_1973@reddit

20, in college.

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McDWarner@reddit

I was 12 also. My mom gave me either Malt Duck or a tall boy Miller Lite, I can't remember which was first. I met my husband that year, he was 15 so 3 years older than me, and we did a lot of partying in our youth.

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Helena_Handcart1@reddit

15 or 16. No biggie. Never led to anything bad. Never had a problem with it.

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Press-74@reddit

When I was 17

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furiousm@reddit

14 or 15. Started with sneaking small amounts out of the liquor cabinet, but at some point one of my friend's parents was fine with us drinking as long as we stayed at the house. Obviously looking back it wasn't good that I started so early, but at the same time when I got to college and saw all the sheltered kids that never drank before going wild and watching at least one having an ambulance called for them every weekend, I realized that by being able to drink freely in a controlled environment was better than that.

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KippyC348@reddit

As a kid. 12? Older cousins would slip me alcohol. And if you went to a nice restaurant with my parents at 14 you were allowed to have a glass of wine with them. I think this was a better way to teach kids about alcohol vs. banning it completely.

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MrsMcGwire@reddit

I plead the fifth

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HistorianLiving@reddit

14

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illpoet@reddit

One thing I've noticed is kids today don't drink beer. I started drinking beer at 13. It tasted like total ass but I choked it down bc I wanted the cool older kids I was hanging out with to think I was cool. Eventually after forcing it down so much I got a taste for it. Kids don't have that kind of social interaction like that so beer still tastes like ass to them

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Pretty-Biscotti-5256@reddit

We were always at someone’s house who had older siblings that bought beer for us or drank the parents stuff but not all the way and then refilled the bottles with water.

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GlitteringBoi666@reddit

I was a toddler at a church picnic. Apparently people thought it was cute to let me sip their beers as I wandered around. 👀

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Mundane-Plenty6991@reddit

I probably had a few nips in grade 7 or 8, but it was really that first year of high school when the “drinking combos” began, and wow, they were disgusting. Did everyone else start with peach schnapps? Why do we all start with peach schnapps? Does anyone actually drink that stuff in real life?

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No-Hair1511@reddit

42

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tmf_x@reddit

My 15 and 17 year olds have like no real desire to drink.

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Vegetaman916@reddit

About 45 minutes ago.

Oh, wait, you mean originally? Like 14... I thought you just meant this morning.

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morganalefaye125@reddit

I finally gave it up last year. 519 days sober. I'm 46

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InteractionLost3936@reddit

13

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They-Call-Me-Taylor@reddit

I think I was 23 or 24 before I had my first sip of alcohol. It was champagne. It was a celebration of some kind and we were all given glasses for toasting. I had never had the desire to try alcohol prior to that, but in that moment, I thought, hey why not?

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No_Salt5374@reddit

Having a sip out your uncle's beer doesn't count as "drinking". Going to say 14 was my first can of beer along with Mary jane.

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sandrakaufmann@reddit

Covid

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CKA3KAZOO@reddit

I was a junior in college.

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asthmatic-smoker@reddit

My dad was a huge lush and kept a half gallon jug of Ancient Age on the kitchen counter. I started sneaking drinks from it when I was about 9.

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TurdFerguson2OOO@reddit

Don't know the age, but junior/senior year of high school.

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ONROSREPUS@reddit

19 in college. I don't really drink much and have only been drunk twice in my life.

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cowmookazee@reddit

Not until 19. Weed was easier to get, no ID needed.

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Puzzlehead536@reddit

So, I never really liked drinking. When I was 15 or so my family moved from Manhattan to the Bronx which was a huge culture shock. I made some friends and one friend in particular made it her mission to reach me how to guzzle quarts of beer, without even one gasp of air. 30 years in to the future after I had moved away to Yonkers I learned that she became a full on alcoholic. If I’m honest, the signs were there when we were teens. In between this time, colleagues at work were also pretty heavy drinkers. I always found myself forcing myself to drink. Plus, it’s really expensive. Anyway, I’m still not a drinker and alcohol is non existent in my household. There is never beer in the fridge, etc.

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Western-Corner-431@reddit

9, curiosity about Daddy’s “medicine”

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road_warrior_max@reddit

Really drinking? Probably 20. The rest of the time, AI just carried a drink as round and sipped everyone now and then. My wife started at 14. Stupid, but true.

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WantDastardlyBack@reddit

From as early as I can remember, our parents would give us vanilla ice cream with a half shot of crème de menthe over it. First time drunk, I was 13 and my aunt got me drunk on port wine.

My kids don't drink at all. They saw me hit the age of 40 after decades of social drinking. My liver was "stressed," and I was advised to stop drinking to avoid damaging it further. I stopped, and they've never started. They also watched one of my aunts drink herself to death, and the other is well on her way.

It's actually a touchy point for my kids. My daughter's boss would pester her over her refusal to drink at Christmas parties or business lunches. She explained why she doesn't drink, not that it was any of his business, and her boss laughed it off and kept pushing it. She reached a point where she wanted to stop going to them, but it was an office of four, so it was tough to avoid them. She quit that job instead.

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Sumokat@reddit

I was 13 the first time I got drunk.

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Minute-Unit9904s@reddit

Like 10 am today ohh in life ? 22

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RunningPirate@reddit

I see you waited until after church.

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jquest303@reddit

I drank during church.

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elviethecat101@reddit

Catholic? They gave us real wine as kids.

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jquest303@reddit

What better to wash down those bloody dry wafers with?

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easternseaboardgolf@reddit

Technically, the wine is the blood

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Accomplished-Bus-531@reddit

This is the best response ever. And even gets the Catholics! Oh wait. Perhaps that's what you meant?

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jquest303@reddit

No. Just snuck a bottle of vodka in.

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s4turn1ne@reddit

Who am I to turn down a free shot

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bendingoutward@reddit

Thought about starting a church once. Drive thru confessional. Pull forward after for a triscuit and a shot of Jaeger.

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Currency_Dazzling@reddit

Amen!

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gravityhomer@reddit

They do serve wine.

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Weird-Conflict-3066@reddit

Blood of Christ after all

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gravityhomer@reddit

I feel like if you downed the cup it would just refill on its own right?

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AndroidColonel@reddit

God helps those who are willing to help themselves.

Therefore, I help myself to the wine, so help me God.

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RunningPirate@reddit

It helps relieve the guilt, I find.

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Beneficial-You663@reddit

This comment made my day!😂

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ParadiddlediddleSaaS@reddit

😂😂😂

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Parking_War979@reddit

I was going to say 15 minutes ago…

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Minute-Unit9904s@reddit

Actually 5mins ago for a night cap

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UgliestPumpkin@reddit

You got a late start like I did. I am a rule follower and afraid of failure and authority. I remember having a lowenbrau beer soon after I turned 21, then I had a second one. And was like, oh, this feels good, I guess I get it now. I've certainly caught up since. Currently sipping a glass from a lovely bottle of a Chenin Blanc from the Touraine district in the Loire Valley.

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Proud-Dig9119@reddit

😂😂😂😂

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Gullible-Apricot3379@reddit

This is one of those questions that makes me realize how f*ed my childhood really was.

My best friend (age 15) had just gotten married over the weekend and she was at my house the following Monday while my parents were at work and we polished off the rest of her wedding champagne.

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everyoneisnuts@reddit

The drinking at 13 isn’t strange but the married friend at 15 is the story I’d be interested in hearing lol. That’s wild!

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shuknjive@reddit

I knew a girl who was married and pregnant at 14. She was in my Home Ec class. I knew another girl who got married at 15 to get away from her horrible mom, her husband was in the army and he was 21. I had two friends who got married at 15, divorced at 17. This was in the 1970's in Texas and teens getting married was fairly common.

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everyoneisnuts@reddit

Sounds like this one was to a 27 year old so that’s like arranged marriage sounding stuff right there.

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Gullible-Apricot3379@reddit

I don’t think it was an arranged marriage. I think there was a pregnancy scare.

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Gullible-Apricot3379@reddit

I don't think there's a 'story' beyond 15-year-old girl marries 27-year-old man and enough adults were okay with it to let it happen

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Fun_Independent_7529@reddit

Yeah, I worked with a gal (and we're talking PacNW) who was 18 at the time but her father had married her off at 14 to his 30-yr old friend. I was horrified but didn't say so... they were still married. I was too young to know what to say.

If it happened now, I'd ask her if she was OK and needed help with resources to get out now that she was 18. I hope one of the "mom" ladies at work did that for her privately.

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Gullible-Apricot3379@reddit

One of the things I've realized as I've gotten older is just how much it was normalized to 'stay out of other people's business'. I was probably in my 30s before I really grasped how utterly wrong this was. I grew up in a world where 'age is just a number' and 'if no one is getting hurt it's none of your business'.

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Hippy_Lynne@reddit

When I was 17 years old I worked at a donut shop that was owned by a married couple, with children, in their mid-30s. One of the other employees was a 16 year old foster child. She spent a lot of time with the owners' family and we thought they were just being nice because she didn't have family of her own. At that time 17 was the age of majority in my state, meaning not only that she could have sex with an adult but that she could leave foster care if she wanted. Literally weeks after her 17th birthday the couple split up and the wife took the kids and went back to her hometown across the country. The 17-year-old moved in with the guy. 🙄 There was absolutely no attempt to hide what was going on once the wife was gone. I ended up quitting not because of the creepiness of wandering into the back and finding them making out, but because she was scheduled to work shifts with me and I had to split my tips with her even though she didn't do any work. My parents still gave me a hard time about it. 🙄🙄🙄 As far as everyone was concerned "she was an adult." I'd also like to point out that despite being a foster child she was not "mature for her age," in fact she was significantly more naive than I was. I never kept up with them but I know he ended up losing the business and I'm assuming he probably dumped her before she was 20.

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Missamoo74@reddit

True. My grandma was 13 and gramps was either 26 or 36 depending on which birth certificate was real. Four children by 18 divorced at 28. Remarried and moved to the States with the 5th child and eldest who already had a kid at 15.

Any wonder I had none.

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everyoneisnuts@reddit

I believe that’s a story for sure. A sick one obviously, and one that shouldn’t have happened.

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DragonFaery13@reddit

I had a friend that got married at 14, divorced and married to a different man at 18.

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everyoneisnuts@reddit

What number marriage is that friend on now lol?

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tandem_kayak@reddit

Wow, that whole thing is nuts! Married at 15?

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Gullible-Apricot3379@reddit

yes

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Aprowl@reddit

Ummm... Can we make a PSA movie about your friend?

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Gullible-Apricot3379@reddit

Pretty sure it was an after school special

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MooseBlazer@reddit

15? What country or what southern USA state was this in?

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Gullible-Apricot3379@reddit

rural... very very very rural Texas.

it is not normal and was not normal then either.

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Crivens999@reddit

Technically about 12. Regularlyish? About 16. Properly regular? 18 when I went to Uni. Note I’m from Wales, so no probs whatsoever once 18. Younger than that then there are various laws about guardians etc. Except that time in Dún Laoghaire when this Irish fella with 2 women on his arms directed us to a nightclub (in the day). We were very drunk (trip to Ireland was always fun from Anglesey) and the place was just a black door into a black lift. We were asked if we were 21, then wouldn’t serve us (we said we were 18 but were actually about 16). We thought Ireland must have 21 as a drinking age, but no. It was a gay bar, and I think that was the age of consent at the time

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TonyBrooks40@reddit

8th grade. Spring break. My brother & friend on the street (9th grade) raided my dads beers in the basement. Pretty sure we drank them warm as we didn't know the difference. Got drunk off 2-3 beers.

I forget what we did when our parents got home, they didn't catch us nor find out. I got caught once in 10th grade, drunk af. Admittedly, I was probably in bad shape. I didn't drive tho. Had to be sad to see a drunk 15 year old.

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susanakaboo1@reddit

Better question...when did you stop? 😂 almost 11 years ago. Started way too early

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Lexfu@reddit

At 13 I had a sip of Genesee Cream ale. Thought it was the nastiest thing I’d ever tasted. I didn’t drink again until the age of 19

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zoeybeattheraccoon@reddit

When I was like 6 or something, I got a glass of port at Thanksgiving. Every year after that they'd give me a little wine at Thanksgiving as well.

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asphaltbrunette@reddit

I had my first drink at 21. Growing up I was surrounded by sloppy, irresponsible alcoholics, so I had no concept of the existence of moderation and drinking terrified me. I got drunk just a handful of times in my twenties. In my 30s, I would only have a drink when I was out at dinner. During COVID, I became a regular drinker at home and spent most of lockdown slightly buzzed. At nearly 50, I'm back to a drink with dinner when I'm out.

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Jimathomas@reddit

I was 14 when I started getting drunk. I didn't stop for 34 years. Next month will be 6 yrs sober.

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Capital-Sound-3698@reddit

Jr prom. Wine coolers. Bleck.

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ConsequenceNational4@reddit

Probably 18 with friends..quit along time ago.

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HornetParticular6625@reddit

58M here. I probably started when I was 17. I drink very infrequently anymore. I had a whisky and Coke last night.

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AccomplishedCash3603@reddit

I don't remember exactly, 14, 15? Also the day I fired up the first Marlboro.

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NCSubie@reddit

15 in 1981. Times were different. If a police officer in our small town caught you with beer, he would take it and tell you to go home. The larger towns nearby would make you dump it out and tell you to go home. M.A.D.D was just getting ramped up. Glad they put a stigma on drunk driving. Was the stupidest thing I ever participated in on a regular basis, and am extremely thankful I never hurt anyone.

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Tight_Comparison_557@reddit

My first drink was given to me by my uncle. While we were fishing. It was a Budweiser. I was 4. Puked in the water. Was told I was scary the fish away. I have never liked beer since.

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Sad_Acanthaceae2737@reddit

Around 15 in earnest, but for the first time at 5. My parents had these bridge parties -- bridge is a card game they played a lot in the 70s -- and I would walk around from table to table and take a sip of people's drinks. They thought it was cute, and that theirs was the only one I tasted. But after sampling a dozen of them, I'd pass out in the den.

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dsmb17@reddit

This! Whisky sours!

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Spiritual-Cow4200@reddit

Started at about 18, stopped at 44. I drank my share.

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BadHairDay-1@reddit

Age 10. It was allowed sometimes. Luckily, I never developed a problem with it and no longer drink at all.

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DMVlooker@reddit

About 4:30 am. You can’t drink all day unless you start real early.

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Local_Blackberry_317@reddit

18ish…and stopped 2 years ago at 55! Absorbed the sober curious movement and feel great. Not at all preaching about it—but it’s been a life changer!

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Western-Host1384@reddit

Didn’t stop until 55 when it was almost too late.

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ThisFeelsInfected@reddit

Around 18? And as a parent of two teens, they & their peers aren’t nearly into alcohol as older generations. Granted, they also have access to legal weed in our state, and plenty of their friends prefer pills.. so theres that.

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FrannyFray@reddit

I drank around age 12 but didn't do it again til 27. My husband had his first drink at age 35 and has not drank since lol

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democritusparadise@reddit

14, on the streets.

Best decision of my life.

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Alarming_Safe3309@reddit

Teenage years

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veganguy75@reddit

My Dad gave me my first beer when I was 5. I got drunk for the first time at 9. At my Dad's house, he was ok with us drinking as long as we stayed home. I'm about to turn 50 with 2 teenagers. We don't allow them to drink.

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NorseGlas@reddit

I think I was 9, maybe 10??

My parents had a huge 4th of July party at our house. Afterward there were a few kegs, probably 15cases of various beer in cans and bottles, and a shitload of liquor left over.

Don’t know why the leftovers from that party did it but I stole a 6 pack and drank it in the woods.

Shortly after I got into my parents weed stash too and decided I liked smoking weed better so the drinking thing was short lived. But there was always at least case of georgi vodka, a few cases of wine, and at least a case of beck’s and corona each at my parents house growing up…. Hell we had a bar with a mini fridge just for drinks in the kitchen.

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DameKitty@reddit

On my birthday.

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BonCourageAmis@reddit

I think around 12. Just white wine.

My adult kids don’t drink.

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4Q69freak@reddit

15, and teens don’t drink as much today. They smoke a lot more weed though. My stepdaughter (22) really didn’t start drinking until she was 19 or 20. But has been getting high since she was 14 or 15.

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747iskandertime@reddit

8th grade? Summer before 9th grade for sure.

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morbid_florist_@reddit

I was 14. 8th grade. Really started getting hammered freshman year. Tons of parties.

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No-Jump-9601@reddit

We used to get a small glass of wine (sherry glass) with our Sunday dinner from about 8/9 years old. At Christmas we’d also get a glass of Baileys or a Snowball.

I was regularly drinking with friends from 12, bottles of cheap cider and vodka.

As I’ve aged, so have my tastes, I now hunt out craft ciders, fruity reds and smooth single malts. I savour these drinks without getting drunk, the morning after is hellish if I do.

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HawaiianGold@reddit

At age 11

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Hippy_Lynne@reddit

Like almost every child who lived in the suburbs of New Orleans, my first drink was a daiquiri at a Mardi Gras parade when I was 13. 😂 Back then you only needed to be 16 to serve alcohol and my sister was a shot girl the summer before she turned 17.

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Munchkinpea@reddit

I don't remember. We kids were allowed a watered down glass of wine with Sunday lunch and on special occasions. At family parties we were allowed a shandy or two.

As we got older the ratio of alcoholic vs non-alcoholic liquid in the glass shifted.

As for drinking outside of family events, I think I was about 16. But my parents would buy me the alcohol so they had a better idea than most of my friends' parents of what I was doing and where I was going.

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jamescockroft@reddit

My grandparents were well stocked and I could fit two beers into my trombone case. Come Friday night, there were 10 warm beers waiting for me under the bed. Later, Mom kept a stocked liquor cabinet for my step dad (at that time he was a boyfriend). It was an interesting time. She spent 3 weeks/month in New York, working on a long term project. She’d fly in on a Thursday, find the liquor cabinet mostly empty and re-stock it. He would fly in Friday or Saturday, drink a bit over the weekend and fly out on Monday; Mom would fly out Wednesday or so. Three weeks later, lather rinse repeat. Good times

By the grace of God, I’ve been clean and sober since 2010.

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Gloomy_Bus_6792@reddit

Sips of beers at 7, finishing off full beers at 10, hard liquor at 12. The late 70s/early 80s were a wild and untamed era.

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OprahsBeaver@reddit

Started around 15 and then I really let loose at 18 in the military.

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Tokogogoloshe@reddit

I don't know. But I did fall out of the tree house drunk with my buddies when I was 10. We threw up everywhere and passed out in my friend's mom's prized rose garden. Poor women came home from her job as a prison warden to see us all lying there. She was sweet enough to let us sleep it off before whooping our asses so hard we forgot we had a hangover.

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reallifeswanson@reddit

On a 6 pack of Shafer, which cost $2.99. Got blasted every so often for the next 15 or 20 years. I just drink casually now and only rarely overindulge.

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StillC5sdad@reddit

Drank professionally from age 12 to 30. That's when I realized I was full.

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Nipper6699@reddit

The first taste was at 6... my first can was at 14... served in a bar 16... when I was legal 19. The day after my 19th, my state changed the legal age to 21. Grandfathered in.

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Stigger32@reddit

13 or 14 I think.

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Dear-Building-3722@reddit

Late, 18, I have since made up for it.

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Dark-Empath-@reddit

About 8:30am.

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foilrat@reddit

I was a pretty good kid.

Then I went to Germany my jr year in college.

Discovered good beer.

Never looked back.

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Economy_Care1322@reddit

Hard? 12

No, it’s not common. I had things going on at that point.

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ForeverNuka@reddit

When I was 32, and then a LOT for several years. Now only a little which feels much better.

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Esteban_Rojo@reddit

Quit a year ago.

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Prudent_Charge_8101@reddit

James at 15!

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feeb75@reddit

13-14 ish

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Aggressive_Event_525@reddit

gif

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AtheistAsylum@reddit

I went to the store and bought a solitary Bartles&Jaymes Tropical flavored wine cooler. I drank half, put the rest in the fridge, and forgot about it until weeks later.

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shlomitisfeisty@reddit

I think 14 or 15. I had drinks before that, like rye and ginger, because our parents did not want it to be so taboo we’d run out and overdo it. Didnt work since some of us still overdid it. 😆😜😵🥴

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CursiveWhisper@reddit

At 18 when I went to college. As far as I can tell, high school kids don’t drink or have keg parties these days (I have teens). Not sure about college.

Wish I had never started. I tell mine that I suggest they don’t start drinking and to stick to the NA beers and wines if they feel they want to have “something.”

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Artistic_Half_8301@reddit

My brother in law had me pop in on his kids one weekend to see if any parties were going on. I get there and they're all eating McDonald's and watching a movie. I yelled - Why aren't you having a party like normal teenagers?!! The 14 year old girl yelled back - We're not allowed to have parties!!! 😂

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Ok-Association-2134@reddit

Same … been sober now 3.5 yrs

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Artistic_Half_8301@reddit

Technically.

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SchoolForSedition@reddit

After I took up with legal aid work. Though I think the commercial lawyers I worked for before needed and had something more rapidly effective.

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jinxdeluxe@reddit

Is the question 'when did you first have alcohol' or 'when did you start consuming alcohol regulary'? Very different answers for me. My parents let me try beer or wine (sip it, not drink it all) at age 8 or 10. Really drinking alcohol I started at 15 at parties with friends.

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bleepbeepclick@reddit

I was 13, if you meant age.

Otherwise at 4:30pm today

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aMoose_Bit_My_Sister@reddit

Mmhmm

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No_Fisherman_7848@reddit

Same

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cropguru357@reddit

Yup

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Tank-Pilot74@reddit

Around 14… as a teen in the late 80’s early 90’s, nobody gave a shit if you had an “adult beverage” (aus). FFW 30 odd years and I had to retire culinary early and I’m an alcoholic in recovery. mmmaybe I shouldn’t have drank until I was older.?!

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Neyeh@reddit

Growing up, my mom allowed me to have a "sip" basically the size of two shots, of a drink (frozen margarita, frozen daiquiri, etc) on the special occasions they would have them. My dad didn't care. He always allowed me to sip his coke and whatever he mixed in. Lol I remember one time I was 12 or 13. We had gone out to eat, my dad ordered something. I asked to have a taste, my dad agreed then mom jumped in. "You can't do that in public! You will get yourself arrested, blah blah blah" dad started to argue with her saying "she is my daughter, I say what she can and can't do". I apologized saying I wasn't thinking. I was still living with my parents when I was 21. I was working nights. Came home that morning and reached into the cabinet for some rum to do a rum and coke. The look on my mom's face was priceless. I shrugged and said that I could now. My family was crazy. I haven't had a drink since 2022, because of health issues and medications. But I miss amarettos and wine coolers.

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crashhelmet@reddit

Does being a fetus count? My mom often mentioned how Tequila Sunrises took care of all of the pregnancy issues.

No clue how long was sober after that. I grew up all over the world. I drank in a lot of countries before I was legally allowed to here in the US

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Raedont_care416@reddit

Beers with my dad at 8 on Cards nights at his gf's sister's apt. With 6 kids present. I was the youngest..

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Awesomesince1973@reddit

8th grade. Not very often. More often in 9th and through high school and college.

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Littlepotatoface@reddit

13 but only experimenting, didn’t go too hard because it makes me feel sick. Was allowed to drink at home from 16 but again, had things gotten messy, that would have been stopped. Barely drank at uni & didn’t really drink regularly until my 30’s. Have smoked pot consistently since mid-20’s though.

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CelestialRavenBear@reddit

My mom, aunts/uncles, and their friends let me be their bartender when I was 12. I thought it was fun. I started sneaking sips of vodka when it was time to fix them another round.

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Typical_Version_7487@reddit

The summer before 6th grade I was spending the night at a friend’s house and his sister sneaked off to get the 2 of us a couple beers from her dad’s fridge.

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jawshoeaw@reddit

In my 30s other than the rare glass of beer

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bentndad@reddit

1974-14 I’d sneak Beer and Booze. I had a love affair with Beer that lasted until I hit 65.
Then I stopped. Just a few Beers and the next day was a wasted day. I won’t say never again but I can’t see it ever happening again.

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kalelopaka@reddit

13-14. Whiskey

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kraftymiles@reddit

Grew up in a country where it's legal from age 6 (at home) so probably then. If you mean without the parents around then probably 13? But more seriously at 16 I guess.

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dajacketfanOG@reddit

18, about a month into college, first party. Wine coolers. Switched to various mixed drinks later. Last was beer, right before I turned 21.

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jquest303@reddit

Ever try Boone’s Farm?

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j-oshea@reddit

$3.00 a fifth :)

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suzyq630@reddit

Yes. Boones Farm Strawberry Hill. My fave for parties in the woods.

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husbandbulges@reddit

When wine coolers fell out of fashion, Boone’s Farm Apple stepped right in. It’s the 80s White Claw!

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Ambitious_Manager_82@reddit

Yes tries Boones puke all over my dorm room

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dajacketfanOG@reddit

Once, outside of strip club. Wasn’t horrible (though I was probably not the best judge by then). That night ended like many in college.. horribly hungover, and clothes with the universal stripper smell (cigarettes, sweat, and a generic perfume that they ALL seemed to wear.)

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SolomonGrumpy@reddit

13 when I had my first drink with the intention of getting tipsy. 14 before I was paying older people to buy the alcohol

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No-Village1834@reddit

Relatives supplied, or OK, didn’t watch the wine coolers in the ice chest while camping. They were all snockerered and I got there too. Barfed in our RV in the middle of the night. Now it takes me a month to get thru a six pack.

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Antique-Produce-2050@reddit

12 or 13. Kept right on going non stop until 42. Quit 12 years ago.

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Major-Specific8422@reddit

17yo.

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Wyldfyre1@reddit

15

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QuokkaNerd@reddit

I got kicked out at 16 so...not long after that...

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NumberOk9619@reddit

I was 12 when I started sneaking a couple beers on the weekend. Would gladly drink at sleepovers and other unsupervised events. At 15 I began drinking daily. Turned 17 in inpatient treatment. Stayed drunk for 35 years. Finally got my shit together and am looking forward to celebrating 4 years sober in December.

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omfgwhatever@reddit

I remember gets sips of beer at 4 when parents threw parties at the house. The first time I was blackout drunk was 14. I woke up in detox with a bunch of old people.

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redfmn60@reddit

Age wise, I started at 14 in our basement. I then proceeded to drink a lot throughout the year. Then I joined the military and really began to drink. I became a blackout alcoholic. I quit in 2013 and don't miss it

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Amazing_Effective758@reddit

I’d say 15

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Brilliant-Onion2129@reddit

About 4:20 this afternoon.

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AdditionalWorking637@reddit

48

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Clarity2030@reddit

Oh, I think we hung out together! You know it was a rocky teen period when you went to college and started drinking/drugging less because you knew you really had to clean up your act.

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Middle-Passenger-831@reddit

At 21 of course. Nah. A friend managed to get me a bottle of vodka for my 14th birthday and 7 of us wound up partying all night. Surprisingly I did not get alcohol poisoning, but the hangover was rad.

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Old_Association6332@reddit

My parents would give me sips of their alcoholic drinks at a young age. From about 10, I was allowed to have a small amount of alcohol in a glass, which gradually got larger as each year progressed. When I was 18 (legal age in my country), of course, I was allowed to consume alcohol normally.

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EndElectoralCollege3@reddit

Never did.

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jojofalling@reddit

Late bloomer 17. My step father drank super cheap crap beer and it tasted horrible so thought all beer tasted like that decided you were all nuts for wanting it.

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Poperama74@reddit

When I was born. Dehydration is a killer 🤪👍

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dodadoler@reddit

About 11 (am)

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Alamohermit@reddit

Haven't stopped yet.

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Careless-College-158@reddit

I was 13, one of many stupidest decision I ever made.

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StockHour389@reddit

Enough to get drunk: 18. Enough to taste what my parents were drinking: 5. Enough to share with my parents: 10. It was pretty normal back then. I was born in 1961.

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SplashiestMonk@reddit

First tried it at 17. Drank a handful of times in college and in my 20s, then nothing for 30 years. Have just started having an occasional beer or glass of wine at age 55. Late bloomer, I guess.

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palequeen42@reddit

14 peach schnapps

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Fun-Professional-581@reddit

12/13. Got soooo sick the first time.

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ImInBeastmodeOG@reddit

13

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mischievous_misfit13@reddit

4th of July 2000 at 17…worst decision I ever made. I wanted to wait to drink at 21. My mom was a heavy drinker and I didn’t want to turn into her. At 42 I’m dealing AUD. She was also a heavy smoker and I never smoked ever. But damn the booze. I would blackout drunk almost every weekend in high and college…unless I was at a concert. I stayed sober

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RikkiLostMyNumber@reddit

I started stealing beer at 12, hard liquor at 14, and was a full-blown blackout drinker by 18. I functioned this way for forty years, and only recently quit.
Kids still drink today (terrifies me about my own kids) but, I think, less than my peer group did in high school and college. They do a LOT more drugs, though (this also terrifies me).
Dear friends of mine lost their 26 year old son earlier this year to an OD. He had a history of recreational drug use. It was a fucking overdose of a party drug - perhaps ketamine? - that killed him, confirmed at the hospital, although everyone assumes it was fentanyl.

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Playwithclay11@reddit

13 us girls were given the run of the basement with a full bar. My friend’s grandmother said have fun and left! First time trying to get sober was at the age of 18. I now have five years without a drink and I am so stoked!

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SQWRLLY1@reddit

I was the responsible one of my friend group... always made sure everyone got home safe. My first drink was a Midori Sour at Peppermill casino in Reno, NV. 😆

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sharkycharming@reddit

My friend and I tried something from my dad's liquor cabinet when we were 13, but I didn't drink again after that until I was 15 or 16. I'd say I was 19 when I started drinking regularly (had a boyfriend who was 8 years older than me).

Now I have three drinks a year, at most. I hate the way it feels to be tipsy, even though I like the taste of Hendricks gin or good whiskey.

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UnicornWig@reddit

9th grade. Bartles and Jaymes peach wine coolers in the park.

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alegna12@reddit

I had a full drink (just sips before) when I was 17. My first drunk was at 18.

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sits_with_cats@reddit

Started at 13. By 15, I'm pretty sure I could've drunk the merchant marines under the table (all of them!). Refused to get driver's license at 16 bc I knew my drunk arse had no business behind the wheel. Dried out at 19-20, & finally got license and a car at 22.

57 now and rarely drink. Still like to smoke a little, but an ounce lasts me nearly a year these days. Saves a ton of $ being such a lightweight!

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phunkygroovin@reddit

6th grade - 11 or 12 years old. My son is getting close to that and I certainly hope not! But he is much different and so much less mature than I was and is still totally dependent on me for absolutely everything. At his age, I was raising myself.

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paulrin@reddit

A friend swiped a bottle of Absolut Voldka from his mom, we had warm shots when I was 14. I worked at an ice cream shop and two 16 year old girls invited me to a party - so I’m like, of course I’m going to go. We park outside and one girl asks if I want a beer, and I said I never tried one. She had swiped a case of Strohs (terrible Midwest US beer) from her dad’s stash in the garage - it was warm. Had a few sips, and I was like “this is terrible!!!” Could barely finish it. Went into the party, and it was mostly 17 / 18 year old guys (keep in mind I’m 14). They thought it was outrageous that I was there, and one guy asks “do you like beer?” And I said “I just tried Strohs outside and it was terrible.” He laughed and laughed. He said we should figure out what I like then!!! That night I tried Budweiser, Bud Lite, Miller Lite, Miller High Life and probably others. Ironically, my favourite of the night was Fosters. I now live in Australia, and you cannot find it here. Did the normal ‘a few drinks on the weekend at someone’s house while their parents were out’ through out high school. Started drinking pretty much every day in college. For my 21st bday, my one brother gave me a keg fridge and my other brother bought me the first keg. Drank Crown Royal pretty much all of my latter 20’s. Got super into wine in my mid-30’s through mid-40’s. Switched to vodka at the start of Covid. It’s now finally become problematic, at 51. So started around around 14 and off I went.

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mADmARTigan66888@reddit

12-13. Same for smoking cigs and weed.

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BloodEternal@reddit

Never.

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ffsinffl@reddit

I think I was maybe 17? Pretty close to legal back in “those days” but not quite. And not in my state. Had to drive 20 minutes to the adjoining state where it was legal (at 18)

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thisisstupid-@reddit

I was 13. My kids make smarter choices.

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brandrikr@reddit

4 years old. Snuck off with my dad’s Coors. Threw up all over my new sleeping bag.

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Golden1881881@reddit

15

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jfdonohoe@reddit

First time to drink with intent to get drunk was 13 in middle school.

Regularly was freshmen year in high school

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Formal_Alfalfa5676@reddit

13 or so

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Timely-Computer4105@reddit

Neighborhood 4th of July party when I was 12 (1984). Bunch of us kids noticed the main beer fridge was in an unguarded garage. We each took two beers under the cover of a lookout and took them to our hideout in the woods a short distance away. We then rode our bikes to SupeRx and bought a pack of cigarettes (no law against selling to minors back then). Went back to the woods and started smoking the Marlboros. Didn’t realize you were supposed to inhale the smoke. Coughed until I almost puked then the nicotine buzz hit me. I was then encouraged to shake it off and drink my Miller Lite. I was the only kid (out of 8) who couldn’t finish my beer. I just couldn’t. It tasted terrible. I went to my first HS party four years later after I got my drivers license and found myself in a similar situation. NFW was I going to be embarrassed again. Not only did I finish my first beer, I shotgunned the next one. Never looked back after that.

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TheReadyRedditor@reddit

I didn’t. My father was an abusive alcoholic asshole. That made me want to stay far far away from alcohol.

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cosmoboy@reddit

18-ish socially. Made it a habit in my 20"s. Somewhere in my 40's made it a problem. Quit in my 50's

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Ok_Acadia_5661@reddit

Till I was 21, just never saw the point while underage.

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StateFalse6839@reddit

14 or 15.

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tigers692@reddit

I was born drinking, never really weaned either…

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Brooklynpolarbear22@reddit

At 7.

During a family dinner, I took a glass of my dad's water off the table cuz I was thirsty. It was vodka. All the adults laughed and clapped. After that, I was included with every toast with my own official shot glass.

Yes. I'm a Rusky.

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4personal2@reddit

I didn't try anything alcohol- like until I was 28. (1996).

I had a toothache and at the time couldn't afford medicine. I had heard that alcohol could kill pain.

I got a "teeny" bottle of strawberry vodka and well , it worked and I slept through the night finally after days of sucky sleep.

Went to the dentist the next day thankfully .

After that, over a span of time.... had some different drinks here and there. Tried Budweiser (horrible) , Flavored Malt Beverage (which gave me my 1st ever & last hangover).

I've had white and rose' wine as well. I never became a "big drinker" and never drank in a bar or club or any freinds' / peers parties.

Just wasn't my thing to get 'hammered' and call it "having a good time".

I simply stopped buying as I never thought it important

... and the last drink I actually did have was champagne at my weddingmany years ago 🙂

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RustedRelics@reddit

Way too young. And didn’t stop early enough in life.

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thai-stik-admin@reddit

11yo, when I started working at farms around the area for extra money. Working provided expendable income and introduced me to a whole new group of people and degeneracy.

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stuck_behind_a_truck@reddit

Never. And I still have liver disease. Heh.

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RaggedyMan666@reddit

The age or the time?

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DoingItForMyKid@reddit

I come from German immigrants. I had beer literally as a toddler. And Lord help me if any of us caught a cold…it was peppermint schnapps to cure all that illed us. Parents had a full bar in the house growing up. We could drink whenever we wanted. Weekends were spent boating with a cooler full of beer. Never been an alcoholic, and I really don’t drink much as an adult.

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Thoughtful_giant13@reddit

Absurdly young - like 11. It was just an odd glass of Baileys, but still. My own now 12yo daughter has never had a drop and is vehemently anti-alcohol - I’m thrilled! 😄

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Ok-Writing9280@reddit

14/15

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FallenValkyrja@reddit

A few months before walking. No, seriously. I crawled along the floor and stole what was left in a few cups. My parents turned around and apparently I was very wobbly. Fun times. I do not have an addictive personality so for most of my life I bounce between wanting to try new flavors and not touching anything with alcohol at all.

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ElCaminoLady@reddit

Sometime around 20. My slightly older then boyfriend now husband bought some beers and we hung out under a lone tree behind the college campus. We had boulevard wheat if I remember correctly..

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ASillyGoat@reddit

Sips of Gramps' Bud Heavy way, way before I should have. First full beer at 14ish. Full blownsies somewhere between there and 16. A lot of it is a blur.

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JamesPage1968@reddit

At about 13 with bad results. I had it down by age 14. In fact, as a funny side story, I remember sitting on my front porch drinking a Mickeys Wide Mouth beer ( I recall it being a green bottle shaped like a barrel) and thinking “ this is it, I’m an adult, I’m about as mature as I ever will be” which looking back seems ridiculous. But, as it turns out, I wasn’t really wrong.

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ASillyGoat@reddit

Brain grenades!!!!

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tuenthe463@reddit

Grenade!

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Advanced_Tax174@reddit

You mean today?

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DAGB_69@reddit

Being autistic when preschool age my mother give me shot of whisky xmas eve possible abuse but it calmed me down enough to sleep.

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Taz9093@reddit

My dad used to give me sips of his Dixie Beer when I was little. I was 13 when I took some of his Taaka vodka and mixed it with koolaid. By 15, I was hitting Mad Dog. The 80s were great. lol

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Noisechild@reddit

First drink, 16. Got sick so didn’t try again until my 30s. Worked at a bar for years and was never into it. Started drinking beer with sushi, and wine with steaks. Now I enjoy making craft cocktails, and will never drink bourbon again! Haha

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JudgeJuryEx78@reddit

16

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Effective_Pear4760@reddit

About 21. Pretty much stopped by about 25, now have a beer from time to time, maybe every month or so but don't much like getting drunk. Also I get way worse hangovers than I used to, so it usually isn't worth it.

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ccourter1970@reddit

I suspect mine is the earliest. 10 months. My parents put beer in my baby bottle to teach me to walk. We had more access to beer than water and soda on weekends. My first time being sober was at 12. Stated sober until I turned 21.

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Flahdagal@reddit

What now?

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ccourter1970@reddit

So my parents are/were alcoholics. Who put beer in my baby bottle when I was 10 months old because I liked it and they put it away from me so I would walk to it to drink the beer. And learn to walk. Beer was readily available in my home. Couldn’t reach the faucet for water but we could always get a cold beer in the fridge. I stopped drinking the first time (as an alcoholic in recovery, 12 1/2 years sober this time, I’ve stopped and restarted a few times throughout my life) around 12-13 years old. Summer between 7th and 8th grade actually.

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Flahdagal@reddit

Wishing you only the best of lives.

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Effective_Pear4760@reddit

Me too! Best wishes to you!

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jquest303@reddit

Let’s teach this kid to walk! What will give him coordination?? Beer!

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ccourter1970@reddit

My parents are/were alcoholics. So no surprise.

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Snoopysleuth@reddit

9th grade.

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Zealousideal_Skin_91@reddit

Jan. 20....

Oh, you mean origionally!

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Patient-Transition21@reddit

Thanks, cousins.

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ddodeadman@reddit

Didn't drink until I turned 21. Got taken to the riverboat casino by some friends the day after my birthday. Don't remember the boat or the trip home.....lol.

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skateboardnaked@reddit

At 14, in 1984. I moved on to LSD a few weeks later.

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Willing_Freedom_1067@reddit

Eh. I didn’t drink until I was 21. Went out to a bar on my 21st birthday, ordered a shot of Jack Daniel’s, and afterwards thought to myself, “This is it? BFD.”

I still don’t prefer alcohol. Never have. I have maybe one drink a year, and even then it’s a Coke with some Hot Damn! in it. Just never had a taste for it.

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StupidOldAndFat@reddit

Had my first beer at about 10 - filling mugs for family at reunions and parties and sneaking a sip here and there. Had my first taste of hard liquor at 15 at a house party (vodka and cherry Coke). Had my first whisky at 16 with my grandfather to celebrate my birthday.

The whisky got me. Been a huge fan ever since. Still bend the elbow far too often and am imbibing right now.

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HelloKitten99@reddit

14, and other than the initial spins the first few times, I have appreciated the general feeling of drunkenness since.

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Correct-Condition-99@reddit

As a hobby, or as a pro? Because I started too young, and only kicked out to the curb a few years ago.

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Longjumping_Code_649@reddit

Never did.

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cl0ckw0rkman@reddit

On my own? I was 11 or 12 years old. Went to rehab at 17 years old. Been sober over 32 years now.

I started out taking drinks from my father's beer. I was like four or so. I was trained in how to open beers and bring him them. He loved Becks long necks. I drank the necks down. Cans of Budwiser, I'd pop em and take a long sip as I walked to deliver the beer.

My older sister and her BFs got a kick out of giving me alcohol and cigarettes.

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TheSerenityPress@reddit

13… a warm Stroh’s behind a gas station that clearly didn’t card. I was with a guy named Chris who recently died of liver cirrhosis, so… maybe in hindsight that wasn’t as cool as I thought it was that night.

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quixoft@reddit

Started at 14, quit at 47.

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husbandbulges@reddit

Summer between 9th-10th grade. In our town 9th grade was still Junior high. I think most of us started branching out when 9th grade ended.

I can remember my mom and stepdad went away for a golf weekend with friends and I invited a few girl friends to come over. Well their boyfriends and crew followed. And my neighbor Courtney snuck over. For two dozen kids, it was pretty quiet and tame but we were very lucky my parents kept cases of beer and didn’t check liquor bottles.

It was on after that. I found wine coolers and Boones Farm. I don’t know if I was drunk or on a sugar high!

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Acronon311@reddit

7, my older siblings thought it was funny to get my wasted during their parties

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Usual_Confection6091@reddit

And we drank hard liquor. Had a friend who was a surprise baby who had multiple adult siblings when we were teens. His parents dgaf about parenting anymore by the time he was 15 and would let us big groups of his friends and their girlfriends get absolutely hammered at their house. Then his sister would let us do the same at hers. We were all generally good kids though so we weren’t like having sex or fist fighting in their basement, just getting drunk AF. It was a ton of fun tbh, but I would freak out if my kid did that today.

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Soundtracklover72@reddit

I had my first full drink at 34. Ended up having 6 of them and getting stupid drunk. The hangover in the morning was horrible. I only got drunk one other time.

I’m 52 and probably have 2 drinks a year. It’s just not how I want to spend my calories :)

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apollemis1014@reddit

I don't even remember. I had an aunt who would give me whiskey and cokes as a tween or teen. And I vividly remember trying one of my dad's Schmidt's warm. 🤮 Turned me off beer for a while.

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galtscrapper@reddit

I was 1.

Mom left a glass of wine on the table, stepped away, and guess what was gone when she git back?

First time I slept through the night! 😂

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JollyGiant573@reddit

16ish?

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CarelesslyFabulous@reddit

I had plenty of opportunities, but was so "happy" (like, energetic, positive, and didn't need uppers or mood regulation of any kind),I just avoided it. I supported friends who wanted to for reasons. I had none.

I was curious, and decided to plan my first dunk night with my best friends. Caught it on film for posterity.

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BussReplyMail@reddit

What year is it? 2025? Lemme think...

Nope, still haven't started.

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Open_Confidence_9349@reddit

I started taking sips of my dad’s beer when I was little, maybe 4? I loved the taste of beer. If I timed it right, he’d get distracted and I’d get most of a can.

I got smashed on peppermint schnapps while sledding at night. No one thought to bring anything at all for the child to drink. I was 9.

With friends my own age? Probably around 12 or so.

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Redgenie2020@reddit

12ish probably due to my Swedish and German heritage always had tiny little glasses of wine at holiday get togethers 7/8 years old. Drinking hot buttered rums or spiked eggnog at Christmas with my grandfather. Pinching lucky lagers or cheap wine from my mom. Hell my mom got me a keg for my 16th birthday and all the parents knew about it. Mandatory sleepover, have your fun sleep it off go home the next morning after mom cooked us all breakfast. Late '70s early '80s were definitely a different time.

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midnight_to_midnight@reddit

My mom worked at a college when I was a kid, and she was very well liked, so she got invited to college parties ALL the time. She would sometimes bring me and my younger sibling to the parties if she couldnt get a babysitter. I was running the keg at college parties when I was 12 or so having the time of my life just hanging out with college aged kids who were super cool and protective of me and my sibling (and my mom). I snuck a few beers there, but thinking back, I know my mom knew. She just wanted me to be careful. I didnt start really drinking until I went to college though.

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psykocheffy@reddit

13...4th of July 1984, my brother was home from the Navy and bought me and a friend some California Coolers and we got drunk and lit fireworks... just recently quit due to health issues. But, like whatever

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Kelly_blue_brook88@reddit

First time I got drunk it was like a breath of fresh air - my crippling anxiety was gone and all of a sudden I could talk to kids my own age … and they thought I was funny and cool!

You’d think there should have been a better way to deal with all my shit, but in the mid-1980s? Nope!

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Igmu_TL@reddit

I was told that some family put it in my bottle.

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sand-castle-virtues@reddit

14 years old

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Human_Type001@reddit

I was 8 when I was left at home and decided to experiment with my parents bar. I knew about mixers and chasers but didn't understand which was what. I grabbed a carton of OJ and a bottle of coke and tried every combination with every alcohol and liqueur they had. There were a lot of bad combinations, but I learned what I liked at a young age. And they had a massive bar, custom made for them in the 70s. It had everything ever. Except something called "grain alcohol" which I found in my grandparents bar, a smaller version of my parents bar. I said to my grandmother, "I know what everything else is. What is this?" And she asked if I wanted to taste it. "Yes!" She let me at age 8 taste, just a little bit, grain alcohol. Years later I found out that when my older brother was 8 she taught him how to blow smoke rings with her once a year cigarette. She was awesome. I also remember asking for a beer with my lunch once when I was about 9 or 10 and then trying to hide it when Grandpa came home for lunch and caught me drinking a beer. He laughed. My mother used to let me have a small glass of wine spritzers that she and the aunties all drank in the early 80s. That's just the tip of the iceberg of drinking in my upper middle class family. Oddly my mother is now a complete teatotaler, practically a temperance reformer.

[-]

treemoustache@reddit

I was a rule follower before I could legally buy.

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TheAngryLala@reddit

When I was 13. Same time I started smoking cigs (stopped) and weed (stopped reluctantly).

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ThatChiGirl773@reddit

8th grade/freshman year

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NotAtAllExciting@reddit

13th birthday in a bar with my father and much older sister. Yes, he was an alcoholic. Never admitted it.

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Boo-Boo97@reddit

Never had a drink, too many alcoholics in the family

[-]

UnarmedSnail@reddit

The first time I got drunk, I must have been about 9 or 10.

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deadbeef4@reddit

That’s the neat part. I didn’t.

[-]

diaphoni@reddit

27 because my mom had a drinking problem and watching it destroy her put me off any alcohol for years

[-]

Workerchimp68@reddit

Still saving these fuckers…

[-]

CleMike69@reddit

I was 9 when I started out of curiosity

[-]

Big-Sheepherder-6134@reddit

My dad wanted me to have a shot of booze by 10 but I never did. Drank in college and that was it. Happy to have been sober pretty much my whole life.

[-]

OGINTJ@reddit

First drink at 5. Regular drinking at 14-18. Started again 27-28. Had another bad period of drinking age 30-31. Now sober. Dont give kids “ a little taste.” Some people are hard wired to become addicted.

[-]

BoneFelon@reddit

15

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scamlikely33@reddit

40! After leaving Mormonism.

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tequilavip@reddit

First drinking experience was at five years old, but I got started for real at fourteen. And stopped when I was 21. 🤷‍♂️

High school was a blast!

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Extension-Elk-1274@reddit

Professionally? 21

55 now.

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MoodScripted@reddit

18 but hate it so barely drink

[-]

TripThruTimeandSpace@reddit

I did all my drinking before I was legal because my oldest son was born the month before I turned 21. So it was generally all in high school from 14 to 17 years old.

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GB24Hours@reddit

16

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elizajaneredux@reddit

15! Ugh

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MY_COOL_DAWN@reddit

8

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063anon@reddit

yep were at a carnival and they haf a miniature bucket they filled with draught beer, dad let me carry it, thought i spilled it till he figured out he was going to have to carry me now

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Small-Effect-3333@reddit

That was the first time my brother got me drunk for his friends to laugh at me. Luckily I didn’t really start til 15. Eight is really messed up now that we are older and think about it.

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HanaGirl69@reddit

Same but I was 10 ish I think.

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GiantMags@reddit

About 15 then when I turned 21 I drank every night till I was 35. Now I'm 51 and it's been great.

[-]

Comfortable_Sea634@reddit

Fairly regularly at 15, but there's a pic of me as a toddler grabbing my dad's beer. Sometimes off, but mostly on since then.

February 11th of this year, I decided to stop indefinitely and now it's been 8 months.

No ragerts!

[-]

ricky3558@reddit

I was 12 and my older cousin introduced me to his dad’s homemade moonshine. I was sick for 3 days after.

[-]

Icy_Hovercraft_7050@reddit

2nd grade my babysitter made me a Lynchburg lemonade

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Big_Assistant_2327@reddit

13

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ShelbyDriver@reddit

I was a colicky baby and my dad figured out that I'd go back to sleep if he put southern comfort in my bottle. So I'd say 2 months old or so.

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Boshie2000@reddit

My Italian grandparents and older relatives usually gave us kids a little wine. Helped chill us out. So maybe 5 or 6. Not saying it was right but I’m fine and not going to judge people from the old country.

gif

[-]

NoAbbreviations290@reddit

Better question is when will I stop?

[-]

Ok-Juggernaut-353@reddit

r/StopDrinking, if you’re interested

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puppy-paw-print@reddit

16

[-]

DesdemonaDestiny@reddit

16

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Villanellesnexthit@reddit

9, but didn’t start buying my own booze till 12. I’m a horrible drunk.

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Infinite-Lychee-182@reddit

12

We had a pretty stocked bar

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tuenthe463@reddit

My dad owned a small biz and every 6m or so my mom would go buy 20 or so bottles for him to give to clients. It sat in a cabinet in our garage and nobody kept an inventory so when I became a drinker in college I almost always swindled a half g of something back with me among the clean laundry. VO was a regular swipe.

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HelpImOverthinking@reddit

I'm a therapist and I've heard more than one story about parents buying teens and their friends beer. Did not end well. My son graduated high school this year and told us his friend's parents bought them beer at a party. Not too happy about that but at least they stayed home.

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Ok-Juggernaut-353@reddit

Little Kings on a night my friend and I told our parents we were sleeping over at the other one’s house and they went with it. Then it was nips of wine and liquor and stolen beers until HS when I had enough friends who drank that I could get drunk most weekends. College was a blur. Post-college was worse. I finally quit 31 years after that first beer. Next April will be 10yrs without a drink.

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NorCalFrances@reddit

I tried wine coolers in high school, got drunk on beer maybe once in college, drank wine with my spouse when we were young but...I never enjoyed it so it just wasn't a thing for me, I guess?

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bene_gesserit_mitch@reddit

Never before five is my rule.

[-]

Psychological-Oil897@reddit

Noon today. Probably around 14 or so years of age. I have fully embraced it. Functional alcoholic!! I mean unless you count my relationships!!

[-]

BrinkinDourbon@reddit

I started late. I had a few drinks at 16-18 but when I was 19 and in college I started drinking more regularly

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Onerustyrn@reddit

Who said I stopped??

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jaynewreck@reddit

The beginning of Junior year, when enough of us could drive that we could rotate DD'ing responsibilities.

My kiddo went to her first party-party the summer between sophomore and junior year.

I don't drink anymore. I got to a point where the hangovers were 3 days long and really messed up my emotional state. Kid is in college, but not at a party school. Some weekends they go out, some weekends they stay in. It seems like she's struck a much better balance than I had when we'd go out Tuesday-Saturday nights in college.

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Plastic_Fan_1938@reddit

8th grade. Beer, weed, and cigarettes

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AstaCat@reddit

23.

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devampyr@reddit

14 years old

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BigAndTall1968@reddit

7:00 am.
Can't drink all day if you don't start in the morning. 😁
Or 14, depending on what you meant. 😆

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typhoidmarry@reddit

9th grade. Every single Friday night for 4 years. Excluding holidays.

I shouldn’t have live to see the 1990’s.

[-]

Old_Woman_Gardner@reddit

11/12. Used to collect all the backwash/leftover glasses from the drunk adults, mix it all up in a glass and pour down the hatch!

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Academic_Ad_8229@reddit

15 and it was very common for everyone to be drinking in high school. My son did not dabble in drinking until college. He was serious about sports and a rule follower to boot. He didn't get that from me.

[-]

ingko94@reddit

Had my first beer at 6, those short Miller Lite bottle

[-]

304libco@reddit

13

[-]

InternationalDuck879@reddit

14 and we would drink anything 😒

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CrowbiwanKenobi76@reddit

Around 16. Pretty regular around 18. Drank in bars (underaged) and around adults that just didn’t care that I was drinking. I’d like to say it made me stronger, but in all likelihood it created problems.

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ThatOldG@reddit

15

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RaggedTiger7@reddit

Drink maybe once a year now. I think I outgrew it or something.

[-]

groundhogcow@reddit

Turns out I just don't like cheap booze. It wasn't till then I could afford good stuff to casually try it.

I had had drinks of stuff before then. Maybe starting as young as 10, but I didn't ever like it and wouldn't drink any more than a sip. Turns out the stuff someone's willing to give a kid is crap booze.

I have moved my way down from the good stuff and will drink cheap stuff now but only to be social. If I want to enjoy drinking I like the good stuff.

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Dark_Web_Duck@reddit

Are you my brother? And no my daughter does not drink as far as I know. Her and her friends aren't the, get together and hang around the bonfire types. They have study parties.....LOL

[-]

mondain@reddit

14 or 15; quit the first time when I turned 21. I could get beer at 7-11 at 16 over in North Las Vegas...

[-]

Elegant-Particular49@reddit

I don’t drink anymore, but I also don’t drink any less 🙂

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atx78701@reddit

My daughter is 18 she probably started at 16

I think I started at 15 but really don't drink anymore

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gchance1@reddit

I haven't.

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snappa870@reddit

14 when my cousin tricked me into 7 shots of triple sec from my dad’s stash! Blah!!!

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19Charger@reddit

First sip? Dad gave me a swig around 5 or 6 yrs old. Really started drinking early in high school.

[-]

PeorgieT75@reddit

.Not counting New Year’s Eve champagne at my grandparents’, 15.

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Slim_Chiply@reddit

Do you mean today or the age when I first started drinking?

As far as today goes, I had a drink after dinner.

I think I was around 14 when I first got drunk. I was working at the Iowa state fair on a medicine show. My brother was 19 and could buy alcohol legally then. We drank some kind of apple malt liquor. I got lost in the camp grounds. It was a lot of fun.

[-]

Oxjrnine@reddit

15 and it was a nasty 2L jug of purple Rockaberry wild berry cooler.

🤮🤢🤮🟣

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herbfriendly@reddit

However old you are in 6th grade.

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benbenpens@reddit

About 12. Kids used to sneak beer into school from home and pass them around.

[-]

Calgaryrox75@reddit

Mistakenly at 12. Didn’t quite know what a yukaflux was. The group of adults all left us12 kids at one house to be watched by the older kids and most of us started eating this fruit cocktail in a hollowed out watermelon during the evening. Good times.

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tuenthe463@reddit

(52) Had maybe 3 beers in HS. First college weekend about a week after I turned 18 I didn't drink and my roommate ruined himself and I felt like it was all on me to make sure he was safe. Couldn't walk or talk. It all seemed pretty gross so I decided I was a non drinker. Then Oct 1991 a few wks later I was at a costume party dancing with this girl I dug and I could see her slipping from buzzed and happy to wasted and out of control so I took her cup and finished it. Then had another and another and prob another and I felt great and I guess as of then I was a drinker. I can only think of two or three x I was wasted and probably a danger to myself and others. Quit drinking when I was 48. Might have 6-10 drinks/year now

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MotoBee2553@reddit

13

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MisterScary_98@reddit

My senior year of high school was the first time I got drunk. So … 17 I think.

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Unexpectedly99@reddit

I was the youngest, so probably still single digit when my older siblings would steal my mom's Reunite wine and drag me along to take sips in the woods.

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CommodorDLoveless@reddit

I'm not sure. I'm pretty sure I always did. I started smoking weed at 12. I definitely drank coffee in elementary school.

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Jellybeanmonkey@reddit

Had my first drink around 16 I was with my dad at one of his friends' houses. My dads sage advise was don't hold the beer bottle the beer will get warm.

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Warm-Discipline5136@reddit

12 maybe 13. Started pot at 14.

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CajunRoyalty@reddit

I went to a few parties and drank underage a few times but I didn’t really “start drinking” until after I turned 21.

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SnootchieBootichies@reddit

Freshman year of high school. Maybe sipping some at younger ages, but that’s when I could go to parties and sneak out etc

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GlassHouses1980@reddit

12 and completely stopped by 27.

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thatzmine@reddit

14 yrs on white wine my friend smuggled out of her house in Sprite bottles.

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AuntieMRocks@reddit

14, sneaking wine from my sister's fridge while babysitting. First kegger at 16. Ordered liquor from bars at 17 with nothing but a polished appearance and projection of confidence.

[-]

mldyfox@reddit

My dad didn't want us to drink behind his back, so he would let us have a beer with him on occasion. I think my first was about age 12. Took the mystery out of it for us.

Honestly though, I drank more often before I turned 21 than I did after.

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Entropy355@reddit

12 Maybe. Mickeys, Colt 45. My older sister and her friend thought it was so funny that I would suck it down and then do cartwheels in the living room.

Then when I was 17 me and a select group of goody two shoes Seniors were on a HS trip to DC to see Clinton‘s inauguration and there were these inaugural balls all over the city. I figured out ours had an open bar. We were all dressed up in prom dresses and no body was checking IDs so I got completely smashed. Couldn’t believe I could just get drink after drink for free! The other students were terrified I would get found out by superintendent and other teachers on the trip. Somehow I never did. That was a memorable trip!

[-]

spaetzele@reddit

15, I think - socially at parties with friends. Never supplied by my own parents. Of course, I'm skipping the glasses of watered-down wine my parents would allow us to have at Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter (maybe started to have that around the age of 12 or so? it was not a big deal and it's not like we got refills on that).

I think I had one friend in the friend group whose parents would supply (furnish, but not pay for - we paid for it) the beer at their house parties on the agreement that nobody left the house if they drank, everyone was welcome to sleep over to the next morning.

It also helped to have friends of the legal drinking age, many of whom were grandfathered into the recent 18-year-old cutoff date that many of us barely missed, to buy it legally.

IDK if kids drink these days. Do they even have parties? Their parents know where they are at every moment thanks to their phones.

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zyglack@reddit

Got a summer job working construction at 14. Drinking a beer or two with the guys each day was the norm.

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MissBoofsAlot@reddit

Like the OP my parents knew there was no way to stop me from drinking or smoking, so I could smoke in the house at 12 years old. Drinking was the same way once I started drinking I could not leave the house. I was damn near an alcoholic in 8th grade. I would mix a bit of whiskey in my thermos to take to school and once I got home from school I would start drinking. I had an early curfew on school nights so it was almost pointless to go out so I would stay home and drink.

My sister got busted by the cops with a case of beer in her bag when she was 16 (I was 12) so I think it was after that that we were allowed to drink if we stayed home. The call in the middle of the night from the police "do you have a son or daughter?" My mom said she had it in her mind that the body was too messed up to tell what gender it was. It was my sister and a bunch of her friends who got caught but nobody would give the cops their names but they found my sister's phone number and made the call.

Sadly my sister now 52 is still an alcoholic to the point we don't really talk or get together since it upsets my kids when she is falling over drunk. I drink maybe 2-3 times a year. Living with an alcoholic really turns you off of alcohol. I had to kick her out after 8 years, just could not take it anymore and the trama it was causing to my kids. My teenager has never been drunk and says she doesn't think she ever will drink after seeing her aunt drink all the time.

In 2024 my wife and I shared a beer, I had 1 beer on election day, and had 2 or 3 glasses of champagne on new years eve. So far in 2025 I had 1 drink before a concert in April but that's it.

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tc_cad@reddit

15.

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Determinedpony@reddit

At the age of 26 in 1997.

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Fartina69@reddit

You mean today?

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Jmckeown2@reddit

Oh Lord, preschool, I remember my (Irish immigrant to US) grandfather visiting and it was sort of a game, “What are you drinking, Pop-pop?” He’d reply, “Oh it’s Terrrrrible stuff”. Then I’d ask, “can I try your terrible stuff?” … “Go ahead..” >GULP< I Never did learn the correct proportions, but “Terrible Stuff” was Irish Whiskey, ginger ale, and Apricot nectar.

I also remember, about kindergarten age, asking my neighbor for ‘a sip’ of her beer. (Not creepy. We were close, they were like a third set of grandparents to me) she handed me the can, which to her dismay I pounded.

About 11 or 12 my dad took me skeet shooting, and afterwards he dragged me along to a bar with his friends. They were buying pitchers of beer, and he was too cheap to keep buying me refills of soda, so him and his friends all amused themselves letting me get absolutely hammered, by letting me pour myself glasses from their pitchers. When we came home, my mom was up, and I was (in my head) totally smooth… “Gooodnisht mom, I Loooove you.” And staggered off to bed. I did not actually get in any trouble, but my dad did say it was not cool that I got him in trouble with mom.

It’s like letting kids have alcohol was ‘cute’ back in the day, and was only a problem if the kid over indulged.

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Asleep-Hold-4686@reddit

21

[-]

sailprn@reddit

Age 56.

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Flat_6_Theory@reddit

Would run around sneaking drinks at my parents’ parties until their friends decided it was funnier to just give them to me. I was around 4 or 5.

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Rough_Respect6192@reddit

18

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Strange-Employee-520@reddit

I got tastes of wine at Thanksgiving starting at 7-8, I thought it was disgusting. On my own, an occasional drink in high school (still disgusting) then started figuring out what I liked at 18-19.

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EightLegedDJ@reddit

12/13 -ish. It’s how I learned binge drinking. In recovery for 7 years.

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Ok_Amoeba_804@reddit

56 and never started. I’ve drank maybe 10-12 times and got drunk maybe 2x.

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PeptoBismark@reddit

In the same boat. Tried it a couple of times at 21. Didn't like the first few drinks, really didn't like being drunk.

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MyriVerse2@reddit

So, you in fact did start.

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ScarletCarsonRose@reddit

We workout occasionally get wine with dinner

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Karamist623@reddit

I mean, when I was 15? I’ve only really been drunk 3 or 4 times. I don’t drink heavily, and have a glass of wine or two every few months or so.

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Apprehensive-Line279@reddit

Never. So thankful!

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tandem_kayak@reddit

My Dad set a great example of what not to do by being a raging alcoholic.

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StarDewbie@reddit

Yours too?

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CDM2017@reddit

My mom did the same. Peer pressure was nothing after saying no to her for years.

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Critical-Range1213@reddit

I’m jealous!

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Apprehensive-Line279@reddit

I believe it was because my parents were not drinkers and when I tried an alcoholic drink when I was older the taste was just horrible. And my body just rejected it outright. I’m no hero. Just happenstance.

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Critical-Range1213@reddit

What’s odd for me is mine were not either. Dad at best had a beer on the weekend same with mom. But the bug hit me. I don’t even have grand parents that were heavy drinkers. Can’t vouch for the gr grand parents as heavy drinkers.

I’m far from the worst of what a drinker could be, just would love to give it up entirely. Turn 50 next month and have a 18 month old so need to stick around!

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Recynd2@reddit

I started drinking and smoking at 12, too. Quit when I was 22. I think I did it right.

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GalianoGirl@reddit

I got shit faced the first time at 39.

But on special occasions the children all got a sherry glass half full of wine. Started very young.

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Minimum_Current7108@reddit

11

[-]

Honeybee71@reddit

14 😩

[-]

CosmicTurtle504@reddit

15, and got sober at 41. It was loooong overdue.

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azmechanic@reddit

A quart of Colt .45. Present day, Bulleit cut with Sprite Zero.

[-]

Silver-Shame-4428@reddit

Half time of the first game today.

Before that. 32 years old.

Before that , I preferred smoking.

I got married. Smoking wasn’t nearly enough.

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Music19773-take2@reddit

I had my first drink probably around 13 or 14. But I didn’t really get buzzed until around 17 or 18.

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Key_Veterinarian1995@reddit

19 and I got cirrhosis at 39

[-]

HonoluluLongBeach@reddit

My mom started feeding me alcohol as a little kid. She thought it was funny.

[-]

queencitywino@reddit

I was 11 when my oldest sibling graduated HS... me and the cousins were sneaking keg beers all day

[-]

PhasmaUrbomach@reddit

I was 14 when I drank for the first time. I didn't love it and it's never been my thing.

[-]

Raynet11@reddit

16 and done by 26… thankfully…😂😂

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Critical-Range1213@reddit

I’m jealous. I hate drinking 22 hours a day. LOVE wine between 5 and 7 pm. I wish I could stop.

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marge7777@reddit

It is the most freeing thing I ever did. Less anxiety, better sleep, no 3 am regrets, no longer need Advil and alka seltzer in every purse.

Do it. It’s liberation.

[-]

Agent7619@reddit

I remember having a tiny glass of wine on new years eve as early as age 8 or 9.

[-]

MrsJennyAloha@reddit

I was 15, I only drank at school I didn’t want to get caught.

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voteblue18@reddit

Around 15-16. Thanks to my older brother. But it was an occasional thing. Until I got to college. Then it was no longer occasional.

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haz_waste@reddit

I had some of my dads beer (Coors) at 10 and didn't like it. In high school in had bourbon.

[-]

BradBGeek@reddit

After I joined the Army.

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marge7777@reddit

Quit at 41. Kids today do not drink. Or at least not much.

[-]

Avasia1717@reddit

there’s a picture of me drinking a bottle of beer when i was in diapers. after that i went until i was 15. i had a shot of whiskey and hated it, then my friend and i shared a warm beer. then i didn’t really get into drinking until after i was 21.

[-]

GoddessNya@reddit

I didn’t drink much until 30ish. Prior to that (about 23) I might have a Jolly Rancher to be social.

[-]

Brock_Savage@reddit

I lost my virginity and started drinking at 13.

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aeon314159@reddit

Tried it at 16, but the feeling was awful compared to LSD and weed, so that was also when I stopped. One and done.

[-]

Noodle_Nostril@reddit

The first time I got drunk was at my friend’s house. We had just watched Dirty Dancing at the theater, and after we got back to her house she decided to raid her parent’s liquor cabinet (while they slept!). Good thing I was spending the night!

At the time, I lived in a dry county, so whenever any of us youngsters wanted booze, we had to go to the bootlegger in town. I remember the offerings: beer $1/can, pints of vodka and gin $3/ea, and joints for $3. Crazy times

[-]

anditstonedme@reddit

13, my group of four would take turns bringing beer to the bus stop, local convenience store gave no fucks in 1984. And drink on the weekends of course.

[-]

GrumpySnarf@reddit

15 but very intermittently until my 20s. Now I'm an alcoholic so don't drink.

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Intelligent_Story443@reddit

As children we were allowed small sherry glasses of wine, whatever the adults were drinking, for the toast at holiday dinners.

After that it was around 16.

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Ok-Train-8207@reddit

And i have two kids. One 20 and one almost 17. Yes. They drink.

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Flahdagal@reddit

Left home at 16, so.. 16.

[-]

Upset-Syllabub3985@reddit

16

[-]

jquest303@reddit

Covid. Life went dark, and so did I.

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WeAreAllMycelium@reddit

Mom shared at 12 for holidays. Wine at night.

[-]

yurtfarmer@reddit

Fresh out of the womb. Milk on the regular

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fedexmess@reddit

Dammit, I just replied with basically the same thing 😄

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Exciting_Pass_6344@reddit

I was 15 when I first had alcohol. 17 or 18 when we would drink regularly, not all the time but there were enough of us that someone’s parents were out of town at least a couple weekends per month.

[-]

UberKaltPizza@reddit

When I was 21. I stopped this year.

[-]

mar78217@reddit

17

[-]

RemyJe@reddit

Honestly, not until I was 30 really.

I’d tasted beer. Had some wine coolers a couple times in the 90s.

It just wasn’t my thing.

Someone abandoned their 6-pack of Honey Brown at a table top gaming event so I took it home. Liked it, discovered what else I liked, and what I didn’t.

Did most of my drinking at friends’s houses, during LAN parties, etc.

That pretty much slowed down after kids though. I’ve only been drinking rately now for the past 15-20 years now.

[-]

yarnhooksbooks@reddit

Regularly at 16, but had my first drinks (more than a sip/taste) at 12. A few more sporadic times over the next few years, but from 16 to 25ish I drank like it was my full time job.

[-]

Aardet@reddit

21 — I’m a rule-follower (or, I was)

[-]

fedexmess@reddit

From the womb I needed milk.

[-]

Sufficient-Regular72@reddit

15 or 16, but have pretty much quit now. The juice just ain't worth the squeeze anymore.

[-]

bthayes28@reddit

First drink: probably 6 or 7. My extended family would make a Christmas punch every year, and my cousins and I were the guinea pigs.

Actual drinking: I started sneaking beers from my dad at 12.

[-]

krack1925@reddit

12 or 13...

[-]

Handbag_Lady@reddit

16-17. Luckily it never became a problem. I found I really enjoy a good wine now whereas I used to drink martinis.

[-]

OldDudeWithABadge@reddit

First liquor at 12.

[-]

Robviously-duh@reddit

dad rubbed my gums with bourbon when I was teething... it was normal in 1967.. miss you dad

[-]

Delightful_Helper@reddit

Age 9. I stopped when I was 55. I'm 61 now

[-]

MyriVerse2@reddit

15-ish

Yes, kids still drink. Other things too.

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crowleysrighthand@reddit

13… first drink was Everclear. It’s been a ride ever since.

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Medium-Mission5072@reddit

8 if you count communion wine lol, But the 1st official time was when I was 15. I made myself a screwdriver when I had a few friends over while my mom and stepdad were out of state for the weekend. I made it too strong trying and impress my friends and I said "I can handle this, I do it all the time". I managed to finish it (barely), and was very drunk afterwards. The next day I very quickly cleaned up the house, and kicked my friends out before my parents got home all while suffering from my 1st hangover.

To my surprise no one noticed we raided the liquor cabinet (my friends also made themselves drinks out of whatever they found in the liquor cabinet, and also got very drunk).

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lokibeat@reddit

First time clubbing when the family moved to Spain. I was in 9th grade. Just before I turned 15?

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arothmanmusic@reddit

Freshman year of college. Typical stuff… get away from home and make stupid choices.

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Malapple@reddit

Early 50's, never been drunk.

I drink socially regularly, but just one. I've been buzzed a little, plenty of times.

As a kid, I watched alcoholics, both functioning and... not. Schoolmates, people's parents, my grandparents, my father...

No fucking way.

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pigbear32@reddit

5pm

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Retire_Trade_3007@reddit

About 9 am this morning

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BooRadley_Esq@reddit

First time drunk at 15. I wish I never started, chronic binge drinking throughout high school and into adulthood. It seemed fun for a while but led to more problems than it was worth. Cost me some relationships and nearly my life on a couple occasions.

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doa70@reddit

17, college

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Relevant_Wrap_6385@reddit

It was imprinted on me at quite a young age. I was given alcohol while teething as a baby, and hot toddies when sick around age 3. My first beer was at age 6 and the first wine by age 10. I started drinking alone at age 12.

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fyodor_mikhailovich@reddit

8th grade unfortunately

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heyknauw@reddit

6 weeks

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Hitch29135@reddit

MD 2020 on the railroad tracks with a dude named Paul that had a halo on his neck from a car wreck drunk.

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BuDu1013@reddit

12 or 13 I got my first beer buzz miller high life ponies

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Ill-WorldsCollide@reddit

In earnest, 18. Alcoholic quit at 40.

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MooseBlazer@reddit

When I was 13.

Never had a drinking problem either.

I don’t particularly enjoy being drunk. I’ve only been wasted once in my life probably when I was about 20.

As a very productive person, I don’t even really enjoy being buzzed because it’s a time waster.

And since my life doesn’t suck, I have no need to escape from it.

In the heat of the summer I will drink nonalcoholic beer just so I can slam a few in the heat without getting buzzed.

My mom‘s brothers are all alcoholics. Oddly she didn’t have that gene cause either myself or my siblings enjoy hard drinking.

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Mammoth_Sell5185@reddit

About 12/13 but didn’t get truly drunk until my 14th birthday. Here’s to you, blackberry brandy! Didn’t start drinking Jack or NightTrain til I was 15.

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HenryLoggins@reddit

I really don’t remember, but if I had to guess I would say 16 🤷‍♂️

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Expert_Habit9520@reddit

First time I was really truly drunk was Halloween night 1987 at 18 years old. I always wondered why people got drunk but was afraid to do so until that night. I genuinely had fun getting drunk that night so many drunken nights followed in my late teens all through my 20s. Have rarely been drunk after age 30 though.

I still do like to drink at music festivals or concerts, but even then it’s just 2 or 3 beers as I am usually driving.

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Didthatyesterday2@reddit

15 and weed at 13. Good times!

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Potomacker@reddit

It makes much more sense to expose children to alcohol and its effect on their bodies well prior to giving them carkeys

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Mindful_Cyclist@reddit

I pretty much waited until I graduated from high school. Snuck a few here and there and my parents would sometimes allow me to have one or two in their presence. Glad I didn't start in high school. Same with weed. Although I told myself not until college for other drugs.

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agravain@reddit

never started

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Gullible-Biscotti186@reddit

12, we were redneck FFA kids woods/back yard drinkers whose parents didn’t care as long as we were in sight of them… Been on and off since then… Went through my bourbon phase and now I have a couple vodka soda’s with lime when I get home every day.. … Also should be noted that my 23 year old project manager nephew hardly touches the stuff… But my 19 year old Koe Wetzel looking mechanic/fabricator nephew drinks modelo’s and ranch waters every day after work

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DeaddyRuxpin@reddit

I’m not entirely sure, maybe 5-ish. My parents would occasionally let me have a tiny cup of wine with dinner. I can say for certainty the first time I got drunk I was 8. One of my sisters was having a keg party and they thought it was funny to get the 8 year old drunk.

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Little-Efficiency336@reddit

18

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PurpleGreyPunk@reddit

Wine mixed with water at family dinners as a kid. #Italian

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gravitydefiant@reddit

Whiskey on my gums for teething?

My dad tried to get me to drink the head off his beers pretty regularly when I was still in elementary school. And I was offered wine to taste at the same age. I didn't like either of those things, but if I had I don't think I would have been allowed a full glass, probably?

I started drinking for real at 20, when I studied abroad and it was legal there. Coming home while still 20 really sucked for a few months.

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josephus_jones@reddit

Started drinking hard at 15 and didn't stop until I was 50. I had a good run.

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Olsanch@reddit

13 when my parents went out to dinner and I got into their liquor.

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WesternInevitable230@reddit

Late compared to others, I didn't drink until college

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BillionTonsHyperbole@reddit

Late '20s. I was straightedge for a long time but then moved to a large city where I didn't have to drive anywhere.

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Nazz1968@reddit

18, and it was Michelob. Eventually I moved on to Shiner Bock and Beck’s. I stopped altogether at 23, and don’t miss it.

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mydarkerside@reddit

17 about to turn 18. This was beginning of college. I never drank in high school.

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Roland-Of-Eld-19@reddit

You mean like try a sip of beer? 5 years old I guess. Actually getting drunk? 12 or 13

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Select-Pie6558@reddit

17…I was such a good kid

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stiggs13@reddit

Around 2pm

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Jld114@reddit

My friends and I had a sleepover and drank blue koolaid and vodka, lol

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vkf65@reddit

I am 59. Really considering starting to drink now. Horrible year.

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jar-jar-twinks@reddit

12 yrs old. I’ve been sober for 15 years.

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AnnieB512@reddit

But stopped in my 20's.

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Extension-Rock-4263@reddit

Never, grew up with a lot of older kids who drank and saw the negative effects and just never got into it, plus beer grossed me the hell out when I was a kid. I can remember no less than 5 classmates who died in drunk driving accidents during high school.

Today’s kids however are much different. I have a teen daughter who just went to college and her and her high school friends all drank but were extremely responsible and it seemed like a pretty common thing. Me and other parents were still giving them rides to and from parties even after they all had cars, just in case they all wanted to drink, even just a little. I ain’t complaining! I know that’s how it should be but it definitely wasn’t when I was in high school in the early 90s.

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sunbleach_happypants@reddit

I remember getting shut off in a high chair

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egret_society@reddit

Like ever or habitually? The latter around 15. The former I have no idea. Dad used to pour beer down our throats as a kid. Grandma used whiskey as a teething remedy. We also grew weed so I’ve never been sober.

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cCriticalMass76@reddit

Depends on what you mean by “drinking”😜

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fridayimatwork@reddit

14

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Few-Pineapple-5632@reddit

Started finishing all the wine glasses at holiday dinners. Stole my first actual liquor from the cabinet at 14. Puked the first time at 15.

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cCriticalMass76@reddit

About noon…

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Sweaty-Bed6653@reddit

I didn’t really drink until senior year and even then not much. Yes, kids today still drink. My oldest started at 15. I think this was exacerbated by COVID. It shocked the hell out of me bc she was an athlete who was pretty serious about her sports. I was so happy when she finally turned 21. For the record, she is a very successful college student who still drinks. But at least it’s legal. My youngest started drinking at some point in high school, and she got off so much easier than her sister. I will say this generation seems to be fastidious about designated drivers.

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sarahs_here_yall@reddit

First.ever drink we made was wild turkey and big red. Tasted straight up like red NyQuil. 🤮 Vodka sunny d and nug red was much tastier

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BeginningSignal7791@reddit

14 or 15, I’m now 61 & rarely drink..I did most of it in high school

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greatlakesseakayaker@reddit

Early 30’s

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Revolutionary-Luck-1@reddit

About 17. I started ordering strawberry daiquiris at restaurants and they never carded me. Times were different.

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Top_Technician_7034@reddit

13 or 14

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Sonoran_Dog70@reddit

First time I got absolutely puking shitfaced was 15. I had snuck some beers here and there before that.

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itwillmakesenselater@reddit

A buddy and I found a half empty bottle of Cuervo in his dad's garden shed. We made it all empty. Hijinks ensued.

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Sidehustlecache@reddit

I was drinking heavily but only socially by 13. Like those 1/2 pints of Brandy and rum kind of drinking. I never by the grace of lucky genes, never was addicted. I drank harder as I got older. But stopped one i graduated HS and went to college. I maybe drink 1 or 2 a year now. I think it's a been there done that kind of thing.

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CarisaDaGal@reddit

38 years old. Really. I didn’t drink at all until then

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jtrades69@reddit

36 but 38 for the hard stuff. now 15 yrs later with prices the way they are, have to cut that out 😕

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TangoMikeOne@reddit

17½ for regular drinking, first got royally fucked 16¼. Gave up when I got sacked, missed it from time to time for 10 years now I'm fairly stuck in my ways and find the idea of drinking something discomforting

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Perfect_Ball_220@reddit

14 thanks to Grandma and a wink wink 😂

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Alert_Site5857@reddit

But I’m 46 now and I drink a lot less. I can see retirement in 10 years and I don’t want too screw that up the way my predecessor at work did.

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Individual-Fail4709@reddit

I had a few beers when I was a teen, but other than that and the occasional glass of champagne, when I was a freshman in college at 18. I barely drink at all now. My mom was great about being open about drinking, but my dad was an alcoholic and not really in the picture, so I had a pretty healthy relationship with alcohol knowing what not to do.

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Paprika420@reddit

First time I got really plastered was summer before 9th grade. It was quite memorable. Summer of ‘91.

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YourGuyK@reddit

16 on a school trip to Germany, so it was legal.

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ChrisRiley_42@reddit

When I was 18...

Not living in the US, that wasn't a problem ;)

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janeylaney@reddit

I guess when I was 18. I rarely drink now though. I only really do when I go out or at family gatherings.

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nevacatchme@reddit

Also going to bars at that age. Sad when you think about it. But I’m TOTALLY fine.

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Stonerkittylady420@reddit

14, my dad got me a pack of Bartles and James wine coolers for a drama club cast party.

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Both-Mango1@reddit

but i really got tired of drinking to barfing and no drunken fun in between. i quit gor awhile, then took it back up, though less heavy after i got married in my 30's. then quit again for a few yrs, now its just a nip, not even two fingers full glass of bourbon, but not every day because i gotta go to work and there's stuff to be done around the house.

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frednekk@reddit

About noon

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SuperSaltyKind@reddit

First beer at 13. Kept it up for too long. Five years alcohol free.

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bloodsoed@reddit

I drank way more before I turned 21. Now I might have 3 drinks per year.

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Shell-Fire@reddit

Junior high. Still cannot look Slow Gin in the face. Bleck.

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Critical-Range1213@reddit

16ish. Probably rolled my first joint around the same time. Quit pot by 21…been fighting booze ever since.

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Hot-Butterfly-8024@reddit

Around 8. Recollection is a bit hazy as I was rather tipsy at the time.

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DistributionSuch1544@reddit

As long as we had the money and knew someone to buy the alcohol, we had a safe place to drink at a friend’s parents house. We had to hand over any car keys and spend the night.

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HootinHollerHill@reddit

My neighbor used to give me shot glasses of wine when my family would visit. I was three.

I started drinking of my own volition at 18.

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Bidesign54@reddit

18 @ Ft.Sill. Was tickled shitless when I learned I would be stationed in Germany. 🇩🇪. 🍺

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Emotional-Affect-931@reddit

Within 2 weeks of starting college @ 18

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yupjustarandomranger@reddit

Used to mix gin and tonics for my grandma, age 7. But she also gave me “cough medicine” of whiskey honey and lemon by the spoonful earlier.

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Ok_Schedule5017@reddit

I was allowed to “taste” what my parents were drinking at 8. Started drinking with friends at 14. I do not drink often. My dad’s family is riddled with alcoholics.

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glennis_pnkrck@reddit

We got champagne and wine with dinner from the time we could use a glass made out of glass and not tupperware. Just a sip for toasts, at first, then we could have half a glass as we got older. When I worked my first factory shift at 16 I came home and my parents were like “ok you’re an adult, want a beer?”

Socially outside the house, college. So maybe 19, 18? Never a huge fan but I have centuries of drunken ancestors backing up my liver and I could def drink well above my weight class which helped at parties, I could always sober up in less than an hour.

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Corpsey_Clownshoes@reddit

Last year of high school

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isthisreallife0109@reddit

Just had this conversation with my older son. I was 15/16 when I had my first drink. From drinking really bad beer to now enjoying some really good whiskey.

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_Brandobaris_@reddit

About 14. There was no booze in the house (lived with divorced mom who didn’t drink) so it made me a bit of a thief.

27 yo son drinks little, gf doesn’t drink. 24 yo daughter doesn’t drink. And unlike all my High School friends they won’t be pressured by me to do so.

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I started balding early and looked older anyway. So, I was the one who could buy. I’d go downtown at like 1 or 2 in the morning, and would buy crap beer (Genesee Cream Ale, Hamms, Huedepohl, and Old Buckeye to name a few). I never got a taste for alcohol, but made a lovely profit selling it to classmates.

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rharper38@reddit

12 Family wedding

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This_Hope_6484@reddit

Early! We used to get small glasses of champagne and strawberries with my grandparents on trips when I was like 7. For real drinking though? 12 I think