luckily, there's plenty of non-alcohol based sleep aids available. i still use a sleep pill occasionally if my brain simply won't turn off for whatever reason (the most annoying nuisance in the world!)............. i purchased a "value" bottle of 96 sleep pills earlier this year for a measly $7, i still have some pills left over 7 months later.
i suspect the reason these various drug companies add that tiny amount of alcohol along with their sleep agent is that the alcohol "enhances" the sleepy effect, but that's just what i read online.