3 Answers

Alcohol can be made easily and cheaply at home, raising the price will only make it cost more for a fancy drink.  Getting medicine for the illness cost practically nothing....

Lets see, we've raised the drinking age to 21, made it more expensive, cracked down on stores that sell to minors, have made driving under 21 with a friend in the car nearly impossible- and kids still drink- but around here they are turning to street drugs because it is cheaper.

The problem is the lack of amyl alcohol in Vodka. Amyl is usually found in grain alcohol whiskey and beer. Amyl is what produces morning after hang-overs and headaches generally. When prohibition ended the Fed required alcohol to contain some amyl to deter consumption and reduce addiction. This worked well until we started getting Vodka from Russia which has no amyl alcohol in it and the Fed has apparently turned away from the pain for pleasure to reduce the temptation as a moral argument to gain favor from the teetotalers of the day. Bringing amyl levels up in cheap alcohols would help deter alcohol abuse.