Alcohol is just as if not more harmful as many drugs, I agree. And one of the problems, I think, is that it's so normalized. Many people go out to party on the weekends and get drunk to stupor, for example, so people are less likely to question if they use too much. I grew up in a home with alcoholism, which is exactly why I don't drink. I saw how bad it can be (and I understood that addiction is inherited; if you don't start, you can't become addicted, eh?).
However, the US tried to ban it in the 1920s, and it only led to more crime and violence! Because the mafia became where most people got their drink, so they became very rich and powerful. Currently, too, we also know that the "war on drugs" started in the 60s or 70s doesn't work, either. Criminalizing drugs has helped the US become the nation with I think it's around 25% of all people in prison in the world, even though we're only like 5% of the world population.
In places where drugs are treated like a health problem, they have better results helping people break addiction (of course, you probably also need free healthcare... ). Plus you have less people dying because they can go to use drugs at a safe injection site, so if they overdose there are nurses there to help them, clean needles so they don't get an infection, etc. And then when they are ready to quit, they can ask for help without worrying about being arrested.
However, alcohol is perfectly legal and it's use doesn't seem to slow down. I didn't know what the answer is, except that I think we need societal level change, like so many things. There is that experiment from the 70s I think where if they gave rats a boring home with nothing to do, the rats drank water with drugs; but if they had a healthy home with friends and activities, they choose regular water with no drugs.