Welcome to Weekenders teaorcoffee, noturningback2 and thomas11.
Congratulations on shotgun Dragon.
Good to see you Lava
I don't want to give the impression that the UK is uniquely bad or make the thread UK-centric, I have to refer to it as it is the part of the world I understand. I think that having very strict licensing laws with all pubs shutting at 10.30pm sharp may well have caused or at least contributed to our binge drinking culture, we can drink 24/7 now but the bingeing remains. That and the fact that our weather often makes it impossible to sit outside sipping a beer or wine. Another thing about Britain is that there has never been a temperance movement to speak of so in the past teetotallers have been regarded as oddballs and weirdos. Some good news is that is changing slowly, partly as a result of immigration from countries and religions where alcohol is forbidden. This is more noticable among the young.
It definitely is culture drives these things, an example of this is the opiode addiction crisis in the US. It is nowhere as bad in the UK for the simple reason that doctors where not under pressure to prescribe them. It just goes to show that culture and policies do make a difference