Anyone who ever smoked: what was your first smoke and why did you light up?

Tobacco, pot, crack, whatever—why did you light up the first time? How long did you keep on smoking? Over time, how many different substances did you smoke?

I don’t think I’ve smoked more than 20 cigarettes in my life. The first one was a Gauloises that someone handed me on a train in Europe. I had been up more than 24 hours at the time and had eaten nothing and had no money. I took the cigarette, and leaned out the window and tried to act like I knew what I was doing.

At college, I was dying to know what it felt like to be high. At some point a friend decided to help me see what it was like. I smoked my first joint. I’ve probably smoked pot more times in my life than I smoked cigarettes, but not by much.