I know what you mean. I live in L.A., and it seems like everyone smokes pot here. When I used to query my xbf about why he drank so much, he's say "well, I can't smoke pot, cuz it makes me sick."
It's like, HUH? You either have to have 1 or the other top cope? What is WRONG w/our society?
Then I heard on NPR that although we are only 5% of the world's population, the US consumes 2/3rds of its illegal drugs. Can you believe that? 2/3rds!
It makes sense tho esp if you consider alcohol a drug. Everyone I know drinks. Many of them to excess, too often. The younger generation seems even worse (I'm 43).
Our society has become a nation of pill-poppers, too. Look at all the drug ads. It's like we can't figure out how to deal with the stress and anxiety of our problems, without resorting to pills, legal or otherwise.