Not being an alcoholic probably helped grease the wheels.

I used to drink in the winter, because my snowboarding buddies all drink and you are stuck in the hotel / AirBnB anyway. I have the same issues with sleep - in particular, I fall asleep more easily when I drink, but I wake up randomly during the night and can't sleep anymore. I always assumed it's because the alcohol (a depressant) is filtered out more quickly than the sugar (a stimulant).

It's been a few years that I stopped hanging with the drinking boarders and hence stopped drinking entirely, and the effects on health are pretty massive. From personal experience, some time in the near future we'll start thinking of free-flowing alcohol like we do about cigarettes now.

Broken link

I had a bad experience drinking and decided to stop drinking for awhile. It went well and I decided to stop drinking completely forever. It's been several years now. Your article covers most of the experience but you didn't mention one pro and one con:

Pro: you can always drive. No matter what you're doing, you can at any point hop in your car and go home.

Con: People will be offended and beg you you to drink with them. Super annoying. Got used to it after a few years.