Alcohol as a "luxury market" is really just a marketing gimmick. It's dressed up to be palatable and to entice people. Dealers gotta make money.
"Society" isn't really a unit. Plenty of people would happily make alcohol illegal if they had power. It's not ethically acceptable to drink in a lot of communities (even in the U.S.). Some countries prohibit alcohol present day.
My point is that the status of alcohol as "ethically acceptable" is far from universal.
It is not universal, but it is a common component of mainstream culture across China, India, Russia, USA, Canada, most European countries, most Central and South American countries, most African countries, Australia, Japan, and others - encompassing a majority of the human population.
"Society" isn't really a unit. Plenty of people would happily make alcohol illegal if they had power. It's not ethically acceptable to drink in a lot of communities (even in the U.S.). Some countries prohibit alcohol present day.
My point is that the status of alcohol as "ethically acceptable" is far from universal.