Another consideration is that the non illicit drugs like alcohol, were demonized by the medical system.
In 1849 Swedish physician Magnus Huss first introduced the term "Alcoholism" and "problem drinker"
Alcohol has been around since the Caveman days and it is a non synthetic drug that throughout society, people use it in healthy ways and graze on it , along side their bread and butter and meat and gravy.
In the Renaissance era, people would drink alcohol instead of water , as the water was often contaminated.
It was never seen as an illness , you would never hear someone say, " so how many drinks do you have per day"?
Now all you hear your doctor say is , " how much do you drink"