A crucial but often unacknowledged feature of any sort of evolutionary mistake view of alcohol or other chemical intoxicant use is that it sees getting drunk or high, like masturbation or stuffing your face with junk food, as an unmitigated vice. A vice is a habitual practice that gives fleeting pleasure, but that is ultimately harmful to oneself and others, or at best a waste of time. Indeed, even the most ardent fan of masturbation would have to admit that, all else being equal, there are probably more productive ways to spend a weekend afternoon.
