[JauntyHatAngle]

Because while social smoking helps in terms of meeting other smokers, it's not a big part of our social culture. Drinking (like it or not) is a huge helper socially, sure it can be a crutch in many cases, but in a whole lot of other cases its a huge boon to meeting friends and getting social.

It certainly helped me in the past, and got me through a lot of social barriers.

I'm not saying alcohol and alcoholism isn't a significant problem in many cases, but it has a well deserved social status, which I don't see as going anywhere soon. Smoking has no such status.

[snogglethorpe]

Also, AFAIA, the addictiveness of alcohol varies a lot amongst the population, whereas pretty much everybody who smokes is addicted.

This means that using alcohol like you mention, as an occasional social lubricant, is a very viable strategy for many people. Once somebody starts smoking though, most of them can't just stop at will, they're probably doomed to spending all their breaks standing outside in the carpark, every day...