“…a recovering alcoholic talking about the dangers of just one drink.”
So, one of the things you learn pretty early in recovery is that there is no “normal” when it comes to addiction.
However, there are _patterns_ of denial and implicit social construction around risky behaviors that most people only believe matter for “alcoholics” and other obvious “losers”.
Something can be both toxic (booze, cigarettes, online fake conspiracy echo chambers) and relatively benign in small amounts. That doesn’t mean that foregoing them is bad in absolute terms.
OTOH recognizing that toxicity instead of ignoring it can help to avoid the “only happens to other, weaker people” trap. Said trap lets many people slide much further into self-destructive behavior than they could otherwise with a bit more self-awareness and compassion.
So, one of the things you learn pretty early in recovery is that there is no “normal” when it comes to addiction.
However, there are _patterns_ of denial and implicit social construction around risky behaviors that most people only believe matter for “alcoholics” and other obvious “losers”.
Something can be both toxic (booze, cigarettes, online fake conspiracy echo chambers) and relatively benign in small amounts. That doesn’t mean that foregoing them is bad in absolute terms.
OTOH recognizing that toxicity instead of ignoring it can help to avoid the “only happens to other, weaker people” trap. Said trap lets many people slide much further into self-destructive behavior than they could otherwise with a bit more self-awareness and compassion.