Human beings have many basic needs including food, shelter, social interaction, etc. But some could argue that humans (and other animals as well) have an innate desire to experience altered states of mind. Psychoactive (mind altering) drugs have been a part of human culture for a long as civilization has. The most famous, and perhaps the earliest popular psychoactive was alcohol. The effects of alcohol have been known for thousands of years. Shaman in the amazon use ayahuasca, a powerful hallucinogenic tea to communicate with the spirit world. Native americans use psilocybin mushrooms and mescaline-containing peyote cacti as right of passage rituals. Marijuana has been widely used and socially acceptable in India since ancient times, and the opium yielding poppy has been hailed as a miracle plant. No other natural chemical on earth has been proven to be as effective at releiving pain as morphine has. And it is not just humans, but animals in the rainforest often nibble more often at plants that get then high. In fact, that is how tribesmen discovered these psychoactives in the first place.
But in present day culture, I think that we are addicted to euphoria. Drinking alcohol is justified with, "I like it because it tastes good, not because of its effects". Specifically, the desirable effects of alcohol on the mind are the euphoria and relaxation brought on by a couple of drinks (or the sedation and numbness brought on by a few too many drinks). If people didnt like these feelings, theyw ould not drink alcohol, whether it tasted heavenly or burned your mouth. But almost everyone can universally agree that these effects are enjoyable. We enjoy having control over our state of mind, and alcohol and drugs are a short cut to good feelings. This obviously becomes and issue when over used, but moderate use of alcohol and responible use of drugs is not always a bad thing. If people had access to real, factual information about drugs, etc, people wouldnt overdose or do dangerous drugs they are not ready for. But, that is just my opinion.
My point is, people love euphoria (the feeling of well being, and happiness brought on by most popular psychoactives) and use alcohol to acheive this. And make no mistake, alcohol is as much a drug as heroin
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