Good opportunity to link the WHO’s information regarding alcohol consumption they posted this year at https://www.who.int/europe/news/item/04-01-2023-no-level-of-alcohol-consumption-is-safe-for-our-health:

No level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health

currently available evidence cannot indicate the existence of a threshold at which the carcinogenic effects of alcohol “switch on” and start to manifest in the human body

Even though I agree with all the points the WHO makes (I myself haven’t drank in over a year), I’m 100% certain that alcohol consumption is also a result of drug policy for a lot of people because it’s the only legal way of inebriation for the population and total sobriety is nothing most people want. For a large portion of the populace, alcohol is the only actual option, and as long as policy makers don’t acknowledge this fact, not much will change about alcohol consumption. Safer (and from my point of view better, but opinion might vary) alternatives exist, but due to their legal status, there’s both a health and a legal risk.

As long as drug policy follows a doctrine that is unsubstantiated by scientific evidence, curbing the alcohol consumption by a significant amount will remain unsuccessful.