People don’t “need” a lot of things. Altering our minds and moods with substances is as old as humanity itself. It’s absolutely “natural,” and neither alcohol nor opioids nor stimulants should be pathologized (particularly legally). Not drinking/using is unremarkable, just like drinking and using. I say this as someone who has been to rehab four times, for the record. Most of us “severe alcoholics/addicts” got that way because of the stigma, discrimination, and status loss associated with both addiction and the neurodiversity many of us drink to mask.