…if it is a time-bound prohibition, maybe in the order of a few weeks, so society can rethink about their consumption habits.
Indefinite prohibition, of the kind that was amended in the US constitution, denies the human desire to consume alcohol and pretend it can be legislated away. A cursory reading of the Wikipedia article on the capital-P Prohibition showed lasting effects in alcohol consumption (I guess, good in the sense that there’s changes in domestic abuse patterns, for example?) and organized crime (bad, with Al Capone and people like him)
I don’t know about time-limited bans, but the way cigarettes have been handled seems to have been pretty effective. Don’t ban but instead discourage use in a variety of ways, prohibit advertising, replace with anti-smoking propaganda campaigns, gradually limit permitted public consumption as usage comes down (which it has).
I could see alcohol getting the same sort of treatment in theory, it also has well documented harms to justify doing so. One thing I’d like to see is more social spaces/events for adults that don’t implicitly revolve around alcohol consumption. You can’t really prevent people who want to drink from doing it, but you could make it less convenient and more convenient for people who don’t drink. For instance maybe establishments that serve alcohol shouldn’t be allowed to have dedicated parking, since the expectation that someone is going to drive somewhere, drink little enough that they’re still entirely good to drive, and then have to either drive back home or face a huge hassle, sets people up for bad decisions.
Wouldn’t really mind heavily restricting alcohol advertising. Like only allow it in areas that sell it if you consider posters to be advertising.
Include gambling while you are at it.
Except smoking usage has increased in recent years.
Bans don’t stop people.
Look at what happened during prohibition.
Where are you getting that from? All the sources I’m seeing show dramatic long term decline, at least in the US, where the policies I’m talking about are in effect https://www.lung.org/research/trends-in-lung-disease/tobacco-trends-brief/overall-smoking-trends
I agree that prohibition was a bad idea, and any measures that go far enough to create a black market for alcohol should be avoided, but there are other things that could be tried.