Take away the alcohol and you will see how quickly riots occur. But even more important, without alcohol people will begin to think more and better, it would cause them to want really beneficial changes, alcohol kills neurons, just like illegal drugs, they want us tame.
I imagine legal drugs are more expensive to make than alcohol.
The key is to keep ourselves stunned so that there are no revolutions.
Yeah, but I think it has more to do with money and dominance. The alcohol industry is closely linked with the government. They get a lot of tax revenue from it.
Drugs like opiates are made from opium mainly grown in Afghanistan (a place the global western markets can't control). Cocaine is made mainly by outlaw cartels (again, mainstream governments can't control it or get tax revenue from it without giving up some power and dominance to current drug lords). Some drugs like meth are cooked easily in small labs (but the government and big corporations can't profit from it then). Things like shrooms grow in cow pastures in all temperate climates and they don't even cause ANY organ damage nor chemical dependency like cigarettes or alcohol (but again, they can't profit much from naturally growing plants).
Opioids and cocaine are easily produced (from plants). It was all legal and cheap before.
If it were true that their reason for alcohol being legal is so they can keep us dulled, then they wouldn't be controlling drugs like morphine, heroin and benzos. Ever heard the expression "religion is the opiate of the masses"? It meant religion was like keeping the masses dulled from revolting and making a better world. There is a reason it made sense mentioning opiates 200 years ago (when opiates were not strictly regulated). So if the goal was to keep us dulled then morphine and heroin would be available in stores right next to rum and beer.