These aren't great "well formed" questions, maybe work on sharpening them up.

> I mean I have never consumed and never will so why is it that your society finds it acceptable?

Well, there are many societies across the planet and as a general rule their behaviours and norms are not predicated upon your personal choices and decisions.

eg: Australian society is largely indifferent to the fact that my father, a decorated service veteran, is and has been a lifelong teetotaller for 90 years.

> Isn't tobacco usage going down in consumption because it is being taxed shit out of?

Yes / no / not really - it's more complex than that. The Australian experience is that public health education policy promoting health, the downsides of tobacco, and requiring cigarette packs to display graphic images of diseased organs coupled with increased tobacco consumption taxes worked together to reduce tobacco use ... But ..

eventually, as tobacco taxes continued to increase (probably a bad idea IMHO) the incentives for criminal sidestepping and black market tobacco increased and Australia now has a new class of criminals that are considerably more violent than before. Hand in hand with that vaping has somehow sidestepped being associated with ciggies, and younger people are back to seeing these 'forbidden' things as desirable.

> Why can't you voluntarily try to influence your alcohol consumption by paying a "alcohol tax"?

Assuming by "you" you mean a country influencing it's population, I guess?

There are alcohol taxes in many countries, also penalties for drink driving, business restrictions on being drunk at work, etc.

Australians as a whole consume less alcohol than many non Australians imagine - sure there are people that drink a lot, but not as many (per capita) as once were, nor as much volume wise per person as they used to, and they do enjoy playing up myths about Australia.

The Muslim world has plenty of alcohol drinking. On one hand you have countries that are majority Muslim but alcohol is legally sold and widely consumed, like the Balkans, Central Asia or parts of West Africa. On the other hand you have countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran where illegal homebrewing and distribution (of often very foul stuff) is rife but society does a very good job of keeping it under wraps.

A lot of states do tax alcohol. Alcohol is dropping in popularity, but I think that is mostly due to legalized Marijuana and THC. Actually, there are more DUI for THC now than Alcohol.

People have been drinking for thousands of years, and all that time there have been people who think its a bad idea.

For me personally I can't drink successfully, so I quit entirely about 17 years ago. The only thing I really miss is the occasional drink with co-workers, especially at long dinners. A long dinner at a restaurant - sober - with co-workers who are all drinking is a special kind of hell.

> I have been trying to ask people this but its havent gotten a satisfactory answer. > I mean I have never consumed and never will so why is it that your society finds it acceptable?

I’m not sure it will be possible for you to receive an answer that would satisfy, given that latter statement.

I’ll say as someone that rarely drinks for the past 15 years that I enjoy two things about it: the flavor (I like beers, wine, scotch, bourbon, gin, tequila and various liqueurs) and the sense of profundity you get when slightly inebriated: conversations with friends, live music, many things become enhanced.

Of course it’s only an altered state of perception but all of life is perception, so it’s no less real than any other mental state.

However it comes with a lot of downsides and many people get taken in way too far by it, to the point that what little enjoyment it might have given them at one time is long gone.

I simply couldn’t deal with the slightest hangover any more, I’d have things I’d want to do after getting home from a party or dinner with wine, or the next morning, and wanted a clear head. So I stopped.

Now, on the rare occasion I want a beer, about 50% of the time it’s a nonalcoholic one, which still has a small amount of alcohol, and I still feel slightly inebriated. Or if I have a real beer and want another to sip on, I’ll follow it up with nonalcoholic ones.

> sure Americans tried prohibition and all that but its not gloom and doom

> Why can't you voluntarily try to influence your alcohol consumption by paying a "alcohol tax"?

Gujarat in India is a dry state. UP has an alcohol tax of 69%. Hasn't stopped people at all, in fact such rules have backfired - loopholes, alcohol tourism, illicit production causing all sorts of havoc.

> I mean I have never consumed and never will so why is it that your society finds it acceptable?

Neither have I. But the problem lies exactly where you're heading. I've had a ton more pressure to drink in India where teetotalism is considered ideal, than in the western world where drinking is considered a lot more acceptable. Funnily enough, the more "taboo" or "socially less acceptable" something is, the more the people who partake also force you to do it.

Many Muslims drink anyway. A lot of those in Iran brew wine/beer in their house.

Tobacco in Australia has been taxed to the point we have a huge black market for it now. You would have thought people would have learnt from prohibition.

You cannot police morals.

Is it really fair to say that Muslim society is "doing just fine?"

Like what amount of reasonable people from a moderately developed non-muslim country would ever want to live in a Muslim country?

Are people that come to western nations from Muslim countries able to succeed and function as well as people from other, even worse off countries?

Wikipedia offers a list of counties by alcohol consumption. Given the opportunity to roll the dice for a new home would you rather the list of choices be made from the Top 50 or the Bottom 50?

We pay extra tax on alcohol. It doesn't matter. People pay it and consume. Same with gasoline. Doesn't seem to matter how expensive it gets. Rate of complaining goes up, but road trips continue.

Alcohol is especially harmful for some people, but for others it almost always leads to a more enjoyable experience. I don't think those people would try to say it's good for them but they will say they like it, it's important to their social life, and it's no worse than junk food.

>Muslims ... choose not to consume alcohol

Muslims drink like camels. Many Christian denominations don't drink either (I had never been anywhere near an alcoholic drink until adulthood!) but there are always going to be plenty of people in the congregation who quietly partake in a few drinks at home.

Interesting, over the last 18 months or so I've dabbled with both quitting/aggressively cutting back on drinking as well as aggressively cutting back on sweets (some periods where I've been super dedicated and others where I'm not).

Counter to OP's experience, I've actually found sweets to be more impactful than alcohol. That is to say eating dessert after dinner will impact my sleep more than a drink or two, and the periods where I lost weight have been more closely correlated with the periods where I was eating very few sweets.

Of course with both, the delta between low/moderate consumption and a baseline of zero consumption is low - it's the excessive consumption that causes trouble.

Like OP I found the daily ritual to be pretty easy after a couple weeks, but like OP I also missed the social aspect (and this is why I've sort of settled on the opinion that giving up drinking completely is not worth it, at least for me). If I felt like I was experiencing a step function improvement in life quality I'd keep it up... but for me it just hasn't been the silver bullet it's made out to be.

I'm not really one to label one food ingredient as the cause of all health problems, but if I had to choose one I would choose refined sugar long before alcohol.

I stopped drinking a few years back, after some (unrelated) health stuff. I don't miss wine, beer, that stopped - like for the author - after a relatively short amount of time. But interestingly I still really miss the feeling of a good scotch after a long day. Not being buzzed, but the sharpness mixed with interesting tastes.

My sleep has gotten so much better. I really didn't realize that alcohol didn't affect just the night after I had a drink, but even the next one or two nights..

I haven't had a drink in 6 months or so. Not because I wanted to stop, I just have not had the desire to drink recently.

Now I would love to tell you about all the amazing magical healthy benefits that have come with that, but unfortunately there are none. I feel no difference at all.

I remember a bar acquaintance who stopped drinking for a year. I saw him when that year was up and I asked him how it went.

“I didn’t notice any changes, so I’m quitting for another year.”

It's easy to stop drinking when you do it socially.

There are many people who would consciously love to stop drinking but can't find alternative to stop the storm in their heads. This could be caused by many things, from trauma to ADHD.

The best quote I heard about addiction is: "I only have control over my first drink".

The worst part is that alcohol and drugs have a strong stigma, but for people who are suffering anything that can turn their mind off is viable, gambling, binge watching tv or playing video games. The latter are often overlooked and ignored by relatives.

I've found that nowadays I largely like it for the taste (which often surprises non-beer drinkers) and so I'm quite pleased that non-alcoholic options are becoming more widespread.

My main wish is for non-alcoholic craft beer to become much more widespread and cheaper. In Australia alcohol is taxed at a ludicrous rate, but non-alcoholic drinks are not, however they often attract the same price - which is disappointing.

Good start. I quit drinking for six years. My only regret is that I didn’t do it twenty years earlier.

Coming from a family of alcoholics (half of my aunts and uncles, my father, and my sister), I have seen the social and physical damage that alcohol does. My father was a role model to me of what not to become. I do drink, but nothing stronger than wine, and not very often.

It may have been easy for the author to quit, but it's a different story for the people who are addicted. The ones who are trying to quit are at least aware that they've got a problem. Many never even make it that far.

Don't drink. Or if you must, drink less.

Who am I to tell you what to do? No one important. But I did recently discover I have colon cancer, perhaps related to my great fondness for beer. And now I'm awkwardly figuring out my final exit strategy. 0/5 stars not recommended.

Oh, and schedule that colonoscopy you've been putting off. Better to catch it early when more treatment options are on the table.

For 12 years, I did one year ON, one year OFF (2012 - 2024).

On my ON years, I felt compelled to drink, every night I had at least a beer, if for no reason other than, I wanted to make the "most of it".

On my OFF years, I didn't feel the need to drink, and generally slept better, lost weight and was more focused.

Stopped drinking completely after that.

I didn't drink for 8 months in 2025, then I went to friends' weddings in Eastern Europe where it's expected to drink. After about 2 months of binging, I'm back on the no-drinking train.

I think what made it stick for me this time is cycling. If I want to be up and hit the road, even one drink the night before will totally derail that, so the calculation completely shifted.

Drinking is really fun, being up to no good until 7am on a bender is really fun, but I much prefer my early mornings with a coffee and cycling nowadays.

> But gradually I noticed that I didn’t really want a drink, I just wanted a thing. ... It could be alcohol, but I found dessert worked just as well.

Whoa! That's not healthy at all... ;)

I've found non-alcoholic beers are actually pretty tasty these days, moreso the longer its been since having a real beer. They definitely scratch the itch to "have something" while out socializing. I don't miss the alcohol at all.

Per your comment about the effect on socialization: hang in there! That space is improving!

I've never gone for drinking, and it was deeply ingrained in the social and startup experience when I was younger. This could be a bit alienating at times (it's not fun being the only sober person at a party, and there's just no right way to refuse a kegstand invite from your boss).

One of the surprising outcomes of dry january and general aging... in some ways, I'm getting to know my long-time peers for the first time. More mixer events are providing non-alcoholic drinks as a first class item, and when we socialize, instead of pressuring me to do shots, we're sharing all the other stuff I enjoyed doing all along: trading favorite tea blends, day hikes, game nights, etc.

I've never met the author, but for anyone else considering this: Welcome, new old friend!

This is inspiring, you might have convinced me to do the same, if only for the sleep part.

One thing that I'd miss is the taste though, I don't drink soda or sugary drinks, and I can't think of a replacement for the taste of good wine, beer or spirits. (there's good dealcoolized beers nowadays but it feels like cheating). Not that I guess one absolutely needs it, but is still part of the culinary experience. It's probably because I never looked though, is there anything non alcoholic that "grown ups" drink?

> I did find not drinking to have one clear downside: It’s just not that much fun to hang out with people who are drinking if you are not drinking yours

This is the big one. Alcohol is the lubricant that makes many social activities function, for better or worse. I've reduced my alcohol intake to 2 drinks per session with about a drink per hour intake rate (slower as ABV increases). One big plus to doing this is that staying out super late isn't nearly as appealing.

Regardless, this article reads like the year I quit drinking caffineated coffee. A roaster here in Houston had an award winning decaf bean that was incredible enough for me to make that decision on the spot. It turns out that they won the WBC on that bean for a reason! It is outstandingly hard to get a good decaf pourover, assuming that the shop even does that. Most times, you're stuck with old espresso or nothing, more often than not.

I've introduced it back into my diet but have decaf days throughout the week so that caffeiene continues to "work" when I need it.

The author had 2-3 drinks per week, that really doesn’t sound like “drinking”. Maybe I’m the one who should give it up.

Wait, people do damp januaries?

I have been doing no-soda januaries and septembers for 15 years now, as a way to avoid kidney stones, something my family has a number of cases of.

Everyone told this to reacted as if it was a novel concept and thought of doing it for smoking or coffee. I never heard of damp januaries before.

I stopped drinking 8 or 9 years ago, and I haven’t missed it. Not that it ever was a problem, I enjoyed a glass of wine or a cocktail every now and then, but I was training for an ultra marathon and figured I’d stay dry while I trained for a couple of months. Had a glass of wine a few days after the race and felt completely hammered, at which point I realized if I wanted to drink again I’d have to “train” my body for it, and thought that was totally backwards. I haven’t found any situation where an alcoholic drink can’t be replaced by a glass of water, an NA beer or a mocktail. I’m also very lucky to be married to a wonderful woman who arrived to more or less the same conclusion and we enjoy being the boring ones who don’t drink (but never get a hangover).

I don't drink regularly at all, never have.

This means that at most, I tend to consume no more than 1-2 drinks per year, usually if I'm curious about how a particular beverage tastes and there's no alternative drinks available to have with my meal.

>went to a restaurant, I thought, “Should I have a drink?” Usually I decided not to. But making that decision required effort.

Every restaurant shoves alcohol menu in your face and your always being asked if you want a drink. Idk why I felt weird just having water for so long.

I think the only I miss about drinking is mostly being 20. Alcohol is a little painful now hangovers and heartburn and bloated feeling.

I love lagers too much to give up beer but I only have 1-2 at a time, quite rarely - but doing without spirits, wine, etc is no problem. The latter I forget exist unless someone else offers me something. With n/a beer, you're not going to find less common types like helles, marzen, kellerbier so it's not a true replacement for aficionados imo.

Maybe it is just me but I had never had any major issues in regulating consumption of stuff like this? Alcohol is all well a good but it never became a habit or diet if you will. Even when I found out I had a dairy allergy, dropping all milks/cheese and whatnot was just a case of remembering to do it, no lasting desire for it.

But Caffeine... oh man that is a tough one.

Heavy drinker from 20 to 40 now after some dry January years I only drink a beer or a couple of wine glass in the weekends (no exception) my overall energy and sleep increased by an order of magnitude. I will quit as a target next year. After quit smoking one of my best health decision so far

I quit for 9 years and went back to drinking. I do it once every few months now, just to have a beer or three with old friends. But I didn't get dragged back in, in fact, it's been 2 months since I drank again. Just had to learn to live my life without it.

In my mid 30s (I'm older now) I got breast cancer I drank so much, which was after I got pancreatitis because I'm too fucking stupid to learn my lesson. I am a biological male now one nipple shy of a set.

Oh and a DUI. Sleeping in a running car. I’m a jackass and an idiot.

I'm done drinking. Ideally my feet will be less numb and painful, my shoulder might stop hurting, the outer two fingers on my left hand might become un-numb, might even gain some weight.

My family is a bunch of alcoholics, "functional" if you believe in that sort of thing. I realized if nothing else, I need to break that cycle for my kids.

I'm so sorry to hear about your cancer diagnosis. I was (and am) terrified that I took ~20 years off my life up to this point, and it could be over any year now.

Alcoholism is no joke. I just wrote up a 17k letter to myself (with my spouse as the audience, not sure I'll ever show her, she hates me right now) about how I got to where I am. Reading it back and editing it has had me bawling for hours. I can't believe this thread popped up.

I looked up the risk factors for Colorectal cancer and it is influenced by various lifestyle and genetic factors, including: Diet (high in red and processed meats), Obesity, Smoking, and Lack of physical activity.

I also noted that rates are appear to actually be decreasing. At least according to the National Cancer Institute. https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/colorect.html

I will second the early testing, it caught my mothers cancer in the early stages. That was 10 years ago and she is going strong in her mid 70's.

As for the final exit strategy, do what works for you and don't worry about others thinking you are being "selfish". You are the final arbiter.

Be well.