What does "socially accepted" mean? Both nicotine and alcohol have centuries-old integration into social customs...
More likely there are two factors at play:
1. The alcohol industry is a massive source of tax revenues (unlike guns or tobacco).
2. Educated voters across the spectrum enjoy alcohol but have largely left smoking behind ("people that matter").
Everything about regulating vices falls down when it comes to alcohol. Every indictment of guns or tobacco (dangerous, unhealthy, societal harm) is amplified for alcohol...yet it gets a pass while other vices are condemned.
More likely there are two factors at play:
1. The alcohol industry is a massive source of tax revenues (unlike guns or tobacco).
2. Educated voters across the spectrum enjoy alcohol but have largely left smoking behind ("people that matter").
Everything about regulating vices falls down when it comes to alcohol. Every indictment of guns or tobacco (dangerous, unhealthy, societal harm) is amplified for alcohol...yet it gets a pass while other vices are condemned.