>people who have lived a hunter-gatherer lifestyle until very recently.

Short cite from the article:
Milton has even proposed that humanity's greatest evolutionary asset may
also be the source of its greatest alcohol-related troubles, saying, "in
apes, there's nothing like human consciousness", so why should they drink?
"Humans might be the only animals that wish to escape from their own
consciousness," she said.

How many of those almost 200 hunter/gatherer communities that were exemined
during the 20th century did not consume something toxic, like smoking or
chewing leaves or something else. It seams to be a trait in humans that we
want to escape from things now and then. Does anyone know of totally sober
tribes?
Eva