If only politics was data-driven...
This study ranked alcohol as the fifth most harmful drug, behind heroin, cocaine, barbiturates, and street methadone, and yet it is not included in the 'war on drugs': http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673...
See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6474053.stm for a second hand report.