I'm a European and have seen the devastating effects of alcohol on both sides of my family. I can't imagine any positive effects that would be able to offset and I've never drank a drop in my life.
You can be. But one of the well known effects of alcohol is to impair the judgment of those that consume it which can lead to the intention to drink a moderate amount of alcohol being (substantially) surpassed.
Between drunk drivers, abused spouses and abused children there is a ton of alcohol related misery. For me personally none of the positive effects of alcohol begin to offset those. Not everybody is able to deal with addictive substances in a responsible way.
I'm perfectly ok with other people drinking (as long as they don't negatively impact others), I just saw the generalization above and figured I would contribute a slightly different point of view.