Why isn't drunkenness illegal?

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I understand that drinking and driving is illegal in all (most if not all) countries. The idea is that your judgement and reaction time is impaired. However, why is drunkenness itself not illegal? Like if you commit a crime while you're drunk or you become violent, you can be charged with the crime but not the drunkenness itself. However, the drunkenness CAUSED you to be more likely to commit the crime. An analogy is that speeding CAUSES you to be more likely to crash your car and so speeding comes with penalties (although minor ones are civil offences not criminal) and so why is drunkenness itself not a crime? You can't say to the cops "but I didn't crash my car now did I?" The act of speeding ITSELF is enough to charge you with the ticket.

Now, is it because our society has tolerated the use of alcohol as a method for inhibition? I mean, it would be difficult to make such a law since most people do it regularly (at least certain age groups). Why are some drugs illegal but not alcohol? Binge drinking probably cause just as much harm to your body. Like drugs, alcohol can ruin a persons life if the consumption is abused.

I think many muncipalities have laws against public drunkness. As for why private drunkness isn't illegal itself, I think it'd have something to do with the whole "influences don't equate causes, you are responsible" ethos that the ideology of Free Will mandates. Namely, drunkness may *influence* you to do stupid things, but it's *ultimately* "you" that caused those stupid things to happen. It's also based on the notion that not all private drunkness leads to detrimental consequences if sufficient precautions are taken while one is sobre.

EDITED

Why should a state that you'll theoretically do wrong immediately be listed as wrong? How many innocent drunken people will you end up persecuting in the process? Would even 1 be too man?

Let's not forget that we tried this once in the states, leading to such horrors as the rise of both organized crime and the Kennedy family (but I repeat myself).

In some municipalities public drunkeness is illegal and in most states driving while drunk is illegal.

ruveyn

The funny thing about alcohol prohibition in the US is that it was the only constitutional drug law we've ever had.

It would be your choice to become drunk. Your stupidity therefore would have caused whatever crime you may have committed while drunk.

Unfortunately, stupidity isn't a crime yet either, but there is a country where it's illegal to have sex if you're stupid - don't quote me on that, though, I just heard it on a radio show ages ago

For practical purposes being drunk is illeagle.
As you said: driving drunk is illeagle, and in most juristictions public drunkeness is illeagle.
You cant walk down the street staggering and you cant drive drunk, so in what other situation would the law be enforceable?
Unless you want an anti-drunkeness gestapo to storm people's homes to see if they are drunk in front of their own tv sets there is no other setting in which any law against drunkeness would be either enforceable or relevent.


You could ban alchol itsself. But they tried that and it didnt work.