Triggering the reward pathway in the brain

Even though alcohol is not the substance your brain prefers, it does activate the brain reward pathway. This pathway by passes the prefontal cortex, or "judgement" center of your brain. In other words, your brain goes on a sort of auto-pilot, not bothering to consult you about what it wants to do. Another much easier way of saying it is that alcohol is a "trigger" for you. Like any "trigger", we can deny permission to the brain to have what it wants, but it gets harder and harder as the alcohol also affects your judgement. You may know something is a bad idea, have few drinks, and it seems like a great idea. For some people this trigger happens with as few as one drink. If you are not willing to abstain from alcohol, you could experiment with how many you can have without being triggered. You also need an "emergency plan" for when you do want to use cocaine, perhaps a friend you call, like a sponsor of sorts. It is your life and you can live it the way you choose, just be willing to deal with the consequences of your choices on your body. One more thing, if your line of work makes it more likely that you want to drink because you are around it, perhaps that is a sign alcohol holds a greater importance to you than you realize, even if it is "just" psychological dependence. Thanks for the interesting question.