Is drinking alcohol healthy?

Alcohol is unhealthy because it is addictive.

Question: Is drinking alcohol healthy?
Position‹2 of 2: No, drinking alcohol is unhealthy.
Argument1 of 3›: Alcohol is unhealthy because it is addictive.

Alcohol changes our brain to the point where we can't stop drinking.

The argument

Alcohol triggers endorphin and dopamine chemical releases in the brain, which creates feelings of pleasure and rewards us for drinking. As one drinks more, their brain chemistry is altered, making them require more and more alcohol to achieve the same feeling. Eventually they become physically dependent on it, and many people become psychologically dependent as well, using alcohol to escape stress or depression. When one becomes addicted to alcohol (also known as alcoholism) it leads to reliance on it to the point where they can not achieve feelings of happiness or enjoyment without alcohol. It can lead to dangerous and unpleasant withdrawals when they stop drinking, which can lead to permanent health issues. Alcoholism can take one away from their lives and families by leading them to become depressed, angry, or violent.

Premises

[P1]Alcohol triggers dopamine and endorphin releases that reward drinking, and drinking more alters brain chemistry so one needs ever more for the same feeling. [P2] This leads to physical and psychological dependence, until a person cannot feel happiness without alcohol. [P3] Alcoholism brings dangerous withdrawals, permanent health issues, and damage to one's life and family. [C] Therefore, because alcohol is addictive in this way, drinking alcohol is unhealthy.

Counter-arguments

-Not everyone who drinks becomes addicted.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P1] Activation of the reward pathway is not specific to alcohol — food, exercise and music engage the same circuitry — so the mechanism described does not by itself distinguish a harmful substance from an ordinary pleasure. [Rejecting P2] Dependence is an outcome for a minority of drinkers rather than a course all follow, and the premise presents the progression as inevitable; risk varies with quantity, pattern, genetics and circumstance, none of which it mentions. [Rejecting P3] The harms listed belong to alcoholism rather than to drinking, so the premises support a conclusion about a disorder rather than about the activity the question asks about.