>Of course, there are arguments around the externalities of all of these things. I view most of those arguments as society contextual (people don't like others

>Of course, there are arguments around the externalities of all of these things. I view most of those arguments as society contextual (people don't like others smoking, so it is an externality) as opposed to something like carbon which would have a negative externality regardless of this societal/cultural context. I agree with you here and find the obsession many people here have with advertising weird. Still, alcohol pretty clearly has a negative externality "regardless of societal/cultural context." The consistently high percentage of vehicular deaths, assaults, rapes, damage to developing babies through FAS, and so on are all largely borne by people besides the drinker themselves.