please bear with how naive and Berra-ish this is going to sound...
I lived a pretty secluded childhood in a small shithole of a town, and for my first year of 'serious' skating (11, 12-ish, still figuring out the basic flatground and curb tricks by myself, pre-Internet, studying every frame of every sequence in the first couple of mags I got with a magnifying glass, no older skate friends...), I was completely oblivious to the popularity of drug use, among most other things outside world-related. I lived in my bubble assuming that regardless of their different backgrounds, interests and personalities, every pro was just a 200% skate rat, getting their kick out of nothing but skateboarding, 24/7 and that this super specifically focused trait was what made them pro.
now, my first mags featuring Glen Friedman interviews about straight edge on one hand and Angel Boy comics on the other hand, and generally conveying a clean, pure, focused image of skateboarding in between Ocean Howell essays and Pat Channita trick tips didn't help broaden my childish understanding of things. plus I think the third mag I ever bought was one announcing Keenan's passing with a reference to substance use and the way they put it made it feel exceptional.
anyway, I remember that for quite a long time I found the idea of a pro skater doing drugs ridiculous, almost comical - like, why would they need this shit when they've got the most fun thing in the world at their disposal already ?
then I gradually, but quickly realized how widespread and almost mundane that stuff was, and naturally lost my innocence. difference with Berra is, said realization never really shocked me (although the early 2000's PD phase did piss me off, but for different reasons), I got the picture quick and just thought 'oh, well'.
but for a longtime I cultivated that innocent idea of pro skaters being always focused and never distracted and to this day, when I look back on it I still think it's beautiful to an extent (and not necessarily unrealistic : you do need a certain drive to invest thousands of hours into becoming remarkable on a skateboard - that can be mixed with other activities, is all).
TLDR : what ziggy said.