Alcohol, brain and the society

Thanks for the thought provoking comments made by Devadas. Let me try to clarify a bit. Alcohol use is an individual's behavior. Behavior for psychologists is a very broad concept. It includes any observable activity of the individual.
Alcohol has been dubbed as a 'social lubricant;. Its effects are mediated by complex neurotransmitter mechanisms like GABA etc. Basically it inhibits the nerve cells of the brain. The inhibition of the higher centers controlling social behavior gets rid of one's anxiety, thereby releasing the lower centers of the brain. The lower centers dealing with emotions etc are free to act as they wish because of this. With risiing blood levels even the lower centers are inhibited. This causes angry outbursts, aggression and difficulty to control emotions. Stiil higher dose impair motor coordination and gait. Later the person is drowsy. Withe toxic levels vital centers controling breathing, blood pressure etc malfunction and the person may die.

Another saying with a bit of psychoanalytic hangover is 'Super ego is soluble in alcohol'. These statements describe the effects of taking alcohol poignantly. Repeated exposure to alcohol makes the user tolerant to
the effects, leading to increase in the quantity of use. After sometime, this leads to withdrawal symptoms on sudden cessation. All this from the neurophysiological angle.

Production, distribution and sale of alcohol or anything depends on the demand for the product and its supply - demand dynamics. It is more of commercial activity. Anything that has demand will be produced by entrepreneurs. Social disapproval and sanctions can reduce demand, but cannot stop the commercial activity. Among the major religions of the world only Islam strongly prohibits alcohol. One has to remember that the word alcohol is itself derived from Arabic 'al kahl'. (My etymology may not be very good).
Alcohol might have played a major role in the social life of Arabs, who might have discovered its recreational use or made it popular. Arabs were travellers who knew many trade routes and collected a lot of ideas along with their merchandise. They might have learned about its production from others (?Chinese). Prophet Mohamed might have gradually come to the conclusion that nothing short of total ban will save his people from the bad effects alcohol.

Why does prostitution, forgery, counterfeiting of money and many other activities disapproved by the society still remain in our midst ?. I think man has a positive and negative side to him. Freud spoke of Eros - the positive pro life energy and Thanatos - the negative energy causeing aggression and destruction. In religion this is probably represented by God and Satan or devil. Many people believe in God. But it may be curious to note whether all of them believe in Satan or not. If not, then where does the evil come from ? I have no answer.

At a much more deeper level I used to ask "Why is our brain allowing alcohol to enter it ?". All substances present in our blood cannot enter the brain. The entry to brain is controlled by a physiological mechanism called 'blood - brain barrier'. If this barrier will not allow, alcohol cannot enter our brains and cause its effects. Is there any evolutionary advantage for the brain being permeable to alcohol ? I invite the comments from all my readers.