No they don't, that's a lie adults tell themselves. Many adult alcoholics started drinking as children. People who "respect it more" tend to also be alcoholics. Very few people who start drinking as children abstain as adults.

Keep in mind that alcohol is also a carcinogen. Similar to cigarettes, even one drink shouldn't be tolerated. Even if a certain amount will have no ill effects on average, impacts on individuals depends on individual factors, so one harmless drink for you might be one deadly drink for someone else. It is poison.

That said, I don't judge anyone who uses substances. But there is no tolerable threshold to giving children poison.