Hello Bud
I was aware, while living in the UK, of the consequence free attitude to drinking. I used to work in a well known high street wine retailer where if you buy two bottle then you get another free. As far as the company was concerned, the volume of sales had to be maintained at a certain level so we were instructed to "push" the 3 for 2 offer of every customer that walked into the store.
Frequently customers would turn down the offer stating that if they bought three bottles they, "..would drink them all in one evening". Most of our customers fitted that middle aged couple sector, "enjoying", a glass of wine after work or with a meal. It was not unusual for regular customers to buy 12, 15 or 18 bottles per week.
I can't really comment regarding my own drinking habits at the time as I'm an alcoholic and so I drank much more than most of my customers. As a member of staff I was entitled to a 20% discount on wine, if I bought three bottles my total discount was about 40%!