Ma'am,
Most of what other people have said is correct. Alcohol is extremely big business and is promoted everywhere it can be. Moreover, most people are not alcoholic, or do not know an alcoholic, and many are not even familiar with it or its effects. Whereas most smokers end up dying from tobacco-related illness, many moderate drinkers suffer few or no serious consequences from their drinking. Thus they feel that it is not a bad thing that alcohol is so widely available; I mean, after all, what's the big deal?
One thing to be grateful about, is that the United States is probably the driest of any industrialized country. Europeans, Canadians, Australians, and Mexicans drink far more than Americans, in fact in most foreign countries you do not even need a license to sell or serve alcoholic beverages. Although AA has a presence in all of those countries, it is much less institutionalized, and RA's have a much tougher time than they do in the US. So its just food for thought.