Right, drunkenness has in general been looked down upon by most cultures around the world, and so is the more inherently "wrong" part, not necessarily the drinking part it self. However, obviously, drunkenness is a result of drinking alcohol - and drinking alcohol also inherently causes those who enjoy it to want it more (due to its addictive properties), making it something of a trap. So, since excess seems a natural result of its enjoyment - how to avoid drunkenness then? I think that the different is in levels of self-discipline - "I won't drink more than one glass tonight" vs. "I won't drink at all." Not enjoying alcohol from the start is the easiest way to avoid drunkenness - if you already deeply enjoy drinking, it will be hard to decide to completely abstain forever, on the other hand.
Increasing the potency of the drug makes for a good comparison - is enjoying crack wrong? Or just stupid? Or is only the getting high part wrong?
Buddhism ranges from strict to almost "not Buddhist" - mostly dependent on how far the sect is from the place of origin (India). Japanese Buddhists are the most relaxed - I would actually argue that most Japanese Buddhists are hardly Buddhist at all - at least, the lay practitioners have no idea about the five precepts, the eightfold path, or anything, really, except for a vague idea of an afterlife of some sort. The monks eat meat, drink liquor, and have children - whom they pass their temples to for the next generation. Many of them do not shave their heads, either - so they just look like guys in kimonos. It's a shame, really - since Buddhism has quite a good framework for teaching ethics, I think. There are sutras, but since they are written in archaic language and pronunciation, noone really can read them, except for monks or scholars.
But anyway, I'm not saying that alcohol should be prohibited - I'm mainly against the extremely positive way that alcohol is looked at. I would love to see alcohol follow the same road that tobacco did - tobacco is not illegal now, but public perception of it has declined, for the better.
Incidentally, drunkenness seems to lead to different outcomes in different cultures. For example, drunken violence seems to be a mundane occurrence in places like the US or the UK; but in Japan, it is almost unheard of. Since in Japan there is also a lot less driving, drunken driving is also less of a problem (although it does happen). The main result of drunkenness is idiotic behavior and having to stand/sit next to malodorous drunkards in the train; also, barfing. When I used to live in a particular part of Tokyo, every morning, in the same place on the train platform - there was always a pile of vomit, the same color (don't ask), the same spot. Probably from the same guy, I suspect.