Originally Posted by
steve-in-kville 
But why? This is what I am driving at. Addiction is addiction, right?
(I was never a tobacco user, BTW)
Yes addiction is addiction, but I don't agree that alcoholism is the same as tobacco addiction. Based in my experience the two things affected me in completely different ways. For one thing, a cigarette satisfied the craving, where a drink amplified it. Almost polar opposites.
A defining characteristic of alcoholism is the inability to stop or moderate. So if one could moderate successfully, one wouldn't be an alcoholic. However if you use the broader diagnosis of alcohol use disorder, the vast majority of those folks can stop or moderate, and do it all the time. The just move on in life as other things catch their interest.
Many of my school mates were like that. Crazy drinking for a year or two, then that phase of their life was over, and the went on to do other things.