Do the costs of drinking alcohol outweigh the benefits of drinking alcohol?
At modest levels of consumption, this is a matter of personal
opinion. I personally don't like the taste of alcohol (about three
sips in and I have a bad cottonmouth, plus alcohol is very
astringent to me), so the costs of drinking even a bit of alcohol
isn't worth it. However, other people like my grandmother enjoy a
glass of wine before bed - it doesn't hurt her and brings her
pleasure, so the benefits outweigh the risk of drinking a single
glass of wine a night.
At high levels of consumption, defined as more than 3 drinks per
day, the risks start to outweigh the benefits pretty quick. High
levels of alcohol consumption can cause addiction, dependency,
liver damage, weight gain, social and familial dysfunction and
depression. There are no known medical benefits of consuming this
much alcohol either. There may be some social benefit, particularly
among young drinkers in the United States, but this tends to
disappear by the time you are 30 and there is a small social stigma
against those who consume alcohol to excess. Overall, the risks of
high volume alcohol consumption outweigh the benefits (what
benefits there are).