Yes we should study the trade-offs. But that calculus should also include the fact that most people genuinely enjoy going out and getting drunk with their friends.

Yet rarely if ever does that term ever into the equation. I'm not saying it necessarily outweighs the public health costs. But a truly fair accounting of all the trade-offs should take the hedonic benefits into account.

Serial killers enjoy murder, but that doesn't mean we necessarily want to encourage it.

I'm all for increasing the safety of nights out, but if it's got a corresponding increase in harmful or dangerous drinking behavior, that's a significant finding too.

The post you were responding to was trying to correct an over-correction. You've now introduced a superfluous over-correction.

To put it another way - you've disputed a point that nobody was making.

Normally we make a clear distinction between people harming themselves and people harming others, also known as "your freedom to swing your fist ends at my nose".

Binge drinking regularly harms others.