This is rather circular: government doesn’t step in to reduce consumption -> everyone who reduces consumption does so of their own volition -> therefore government shouldn’t step in to reduce consumption

We know that taxes have a very strong positive effect on cigarette use, for example.

Don't taxes on things like cigarettes and sodas disproportionally affect lower-income folks? Intended or not, it comes off as a bit classist. I don't have a better solution, tbh.

Virtually anything will affect people of different wealth levels differently. Are we to accept that we just shouldn't mitigate literally any problem on the planet until we first equalize wealth across the board?

This argument is perhaps the best of the hyper-progressives' long list of own goals. Self-neutering on every single problem in the world.

Low income is heavily linked with depression, and alcohol tends to amplify and prolong depression, which makes it that much harder to increase income. It is a vicious cycle I have known many people unable to escape.

There is an argument to be made for making alcohol harder to access for younger or lower income people.

This logic is a big reason why I personally avoided all recreational substances including alcohol until I felt very happy and stable in my career and trajectory in life, at 25.

I advise everyone to abstain from any recreational substances at least until they are at cruising altitude in life, whenever and whatever that means for them.

Occasional recreational substances are for happy and stable times, if at all.

It does; but (at least in the UK) smoking and obesity are not only the two largest contributors to early deaths, but also by far the largest contributors to inequality of life expectancy between socioeconomic groups.

A gentle but firm regulatory hand does wonders. Seatbelts, safety standards, they save lives. One only needs to look at the stigma created around cigarettes, often through strong policy, to see that it can be wholly effective.

A government isn’t some faceless monster entity like the banks in The Grapes of Wrath. They are you and I, and it seems more than okay to come together to write laws for the greater good of all.

It works for cigarettes.

[0]: https://web.stanford.edu/~jhain/Paper/JASA2010.pdf

People respond to incentives, why wouldn't they respond to taxes on alcohol?

"Public policies affecting the price of alcoholic beverages have significant effects on alcohol-related disease and injury rates. Our results suggest that doubling the alcohol tax would reduce alcohol-related mortality by an average of 35%, traffic crash deaths by 11%, sexually transmitted disease by 6%, violence by 2%, and crime by 1.4%."

From https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2951962/