It seems to me that some people have a self-limiting apparatus, and others do not. I don't think willpower is much of a factor, because there are drunks who are very disciplined in other areas. The same is true for fat people, and the world is full of skinny people who are total idiots.I could be wrong, I'm not a doctor but I think there's folks who like to drink, may over consume at times but are not an alcoholic.
If I have three pints in one night, I can feel it the next day. I don't want to have that feeling every day. The next day, I don't feel like drinking as much.
My college roommate, who enjoyed drinking alone, could get drunk two nights in a row. I could never do that, and I drank like a fish in college. I could get really drunk every Saturday, but I could not get drunk on Friday and again on Saturday.
My family lived next to an old Irish lady, and she used to fill a tumbler with vodka and chug it. She was beyond hope.
Seems like an awful lot of alcoholics end up on vodka or wine. Vodka is supposed to be less likely to cause hangovers, and alcoholics tell themselves no one can smell it on them. Of course, everyone else can smell it 10 feet away. Wine is very easy to drink, and cheap wine is everywhere.