I think the differentiation is an important one. I obviously can drink if I want to (unless I'm broke in Saudi Arabia or somewhere and even then I probably would have got one in my drinking days) so to say that you can't is making yourself unnecessarily vulnerable. To be able to say that you don't want to has to be an aspiration of an alcoholic, it is an empowerment that enables to you to fully appreciate sobriety rather than be a slave to it. As for people who pester you to have a drink tell them to **** off, there are few things more boring than a drunk.