In contrast, in Sweden until recently no one could buy alcohol except by written request, and all alcohol was sold in a state monopoly store. Furthermore, if people think that drinking leads to violence, then they tend to become violent when drinking. If they think that it makes people sexy, they tend to become amorous. And if they think that alcohol disinhibits, then they tend to become disinhibited when drinking. Because behavior reflects expectations, a society gets the kind of intoxicated behavior that it expects of intoxicated people.
People tend to conform to expectations.
It would appear that we should be careful not to stigmatize alcohol and the people who consume it in moderation. Indeed, we have to be very careful in the messages that we send. It isn't helpful to stigmatize a product that, when used in moderation, is associated with better health and greater longevity than is either abstaining or drinking heavily. This is especially the case when to do so tends to increase those problems that do exist. Societies that have few alcohol problems tend to view drinking in moderation as entirely acceptable behavior, while they view abusive drinking as totally unacceptable behavior for anyone under any circumstances at any time.