A soon to be finalized study concluded that moderate drinking is healthier than not drinking at all:
From the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine's, Review of Evidence on Alcohol and Health (2025)
Conclusion 3-1: Based on data from the eight eligible studies from 2019 to 2023, the committee concludes that compared with never consuming alcohol, moderate alcohol consumption is associated with lower all-cause mortality (moderate certainty)