Why is alcohol seen differently from other drugs?

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How come it’s OK to admit you have a problem with smoking, yet with alcohol, there’s this stigma around admitting it? You can openly admit that you get cravings to cigarettes, but with alcohol, doing so runs the risk of being stigmatized as a shameful alcoholic with some incurable disease. If you smoke people will acknowledge that it’s an addictive substance and you got hooked for using it you poor sod. Even for people who get addicted to some of the hard drugs like cocaine or heroine, people see the drug as the problem, not the person, it being highly addictive. Yet with alcohol if you get hooked, you’re seen differently, you’re seen as having a ‘disease’, being a weak willed, broken person rather than someone who’s gotten hooked as a result of abusing a highly addictive substance. All drugs have the potential to get you addicted if you misuse them, including alcohol. Why should alcohol be seen differently? Why is there this stigma against admitting getting addicted to alcohol that doesn’t exist with other drugs?

The reasons;
*Alcohol is the most popular recreational drug in the world
*It’s a shared common experience that’s widely-related to, not so with the other drugs
*People have many fond & happy memories associated with times when they were under the influence of alcohol
*It’s a focus of many of our meeting places (the same can be said RE caffeine in coffee shops but caffeine is not as dangerous) unlike cigarettes or the other recreational drugs
*It’s almost impossible to have a social life without being in an environment where it’s available or even expected, unlike other drugs which are easy to get away from (caffeine being the exception, but this is a benign drug in comparison, has nothing like the mid-altering power of alcohol)
*There’ a whole system of etiquette that exists around alcohol that does not exist around other drugs
*Alcohol takes years to get people addicted unlike other recreational drugs
*The majority of people who use it do not develop addictions (the same can be said for other drugs including nicotine); many go through a phase of heavy drinking at some points in their life, but this generally mellows down doesn’t progress to addiction
*Many people don’t even see alcohol as a drug, sometimes even getting offended by referring to it as such

Why is there a stigma against admitting to being addicted to alcohol?
For the reasons I mentioned above, for the fact that it’s consumption is more normalized than with any other drug & that people simply don’t even see alcohol as a drug. People can get offended even by referring to alcohol a drug.

If alcohol is so addictive then why doesn’t everyone who uses it get addicted?
The reason for this is the majority of drinkers don’t abuse it, at least not for a prolonged period of time. People who get addicted to any substance do so as a result of misusing it over a prolonged period of time. It’s when people start abusing a substance; including using it as a coping mechanism that people run the risk of addiction. A good metaphor is playing with fire. If you abuse fire, there’s a chance you’ll get burned, same is true of all drugs including alcohol. What's more, alcohol gets people addicted very slowly, often over the course of years. People who get addicted may not realize they have a problem until they try to cut down or stop. With alcohol, the consumption of it is very mainstram & the majority of people who use it don’t get addicted to it.

Why is alcohol socially-acceptable?
Even though it kills more people per year than the hard drugs like heroine & coke combined & costs a lot more in terms of crime, it remains the most socially-acceptable high magnitude drug on the planet. Caffiene is equally socially-acceptable, but this is a relatively benign drug. The reasons it’s so socially-acceptable, it’s one of the oldest drugs & ‘everyone does it’, there’s a lot of social proof.

Should alcohol be less socially-acceptable?
It’s not social acceptability of alcohol that’s the problem, it’s the factors that drive people to seek solace in it & to abuse it that is the root of drinking problems, as with other substances. This is not a call for making alcohol less socially-acceptable nor is this a defence of heavy drinking, but about exploring & understanding the role that it plays & why it’s seen differently. Prohibitionist policies don’t work, they'll just create a black market & what’s more, they don’t tackle the root of the problem, just the symptoms.

Reasons people might misuse substances including alcohol
The reason is simple and applies to all substances;
*They may not be lonely or have any gap in their life
*They may use it as a way to cope with difficult social situations
*They may not have anyone to talk to who understands & may turn to substances
*tons of others that I haven't got time to talk about at the moment
People might misuse substances for a variety of reasons, many of these are very personal, whether they be using it to cope social situations or to escape or have gotten into a habit.

Some specifics
The fact that a lot of places where this drug is served are intimidating at peak times, the powerful effect it can have of making these places less scary, unlike caffiene or nicotine. These are settings that many people, even socially-confident people would find scary without alcohol to take the edge off.

By the time people are disinhibited enough to make observations about the effects of alcohol, they may also be intoxicated to a point where they can no longer report details, though this might apply to other drugs too.

Conclusion
People don’t see alcohol the same way as other drugs even though it’s one of the most addictive substances on planet Earth; in the same top 5 league table with heroine. A big part of the reason is, people don’t view alcohol, or respect it as a drug. The stigma against admitting having a problem with drinking should not exist. It doesn’t exist if you have a problem with with smoking, or even an addiction to the illegal drugs. This stigma is a barrier for people getting help.