One tequila, two tequila, three tequila… No more?

Okay so for those who know me well, they will tell you that I can put most guys to shame when it comes to drinking tequila, like I have the constitution of an Irish pub owner.  Now don’t get me wrong, I’m by no means the type to be found drinking gin alone in my bathrobe, in fact I never drink alone period. Lately however I have been questioning the merit of drinking at all, so have been weighing up the merits and investigating alternatives.
So the cons of drinking:
-    It’s fattening, the calories abound!
-    You end up doing silly things when your inhibitions go out the window and end up regretting things the morning after the night before.
-    There is the obvious damage to your health, liver etc. Even if its only small quantities over a long period of time I’m sure it starts to add up.
-    You generally feel pretty bleak after a “big one”, if that’s not an indication of the damage you are causing then I don’t know what is.
-    Its an expensive “hobby”, ok this one is a stretch, but it literally is money that you are “Pissing” away, excuse me for being crass.
The pros of drinking:
-    Its sociable, and it’s a generally accepted societal norm – the social lubricant of the masses.
-    You generally have a blast when you have “had a few”, everyone loves you and you love everyone – for that time period.
-    There is the question of wine, lets be honest, a great wine at dinner is awesome!
So do the pros outweigh the cons? This is what I am trying to decide. A lifestyle alternative I have been looking into lately is that of a lifestyle known as ‘Straight Edge’. Straight Edge began in the early 80’s, the philosophy spanning and then diversifying from a song by the band Minor Threat. The basic tenet of the philosophy centered on the issue of self-control.  Straight Edge is abstinence from all narcotics – alcohol, tobacco, drugs and in the most extreme cases promiscuous sexual encounters.  Straight Edge is generally practiced by the more hardcore punk subculture. The letter X is the most known symbol of straight edge community and is generally worn as a marking or tattoo on the back of one or both hands, though is often displayed on other body parts as well. Herewith an excerpt from Wikipedia;
“Some followers are known as “hardcore kids” referring to the hardcore and punk music scene in which straight edge is prevalent. Some followers of straight edge have also incorporated the symbol into clothing and pins. According to a series of interviews by journalist Michael Azerrad, the straight edge “X” can be traced to the Teen Idles’ brief U.S. West Coast tour in 1980.[2] The Teen Idles were scheduled to play at San Francisco’s Mabuhay Gardens, but when the band arrived, club management discovered that the entire band was under the legal drinking age and therefore should be denied entry to the club. As a compromise, management marked each of the Idles’ hands with a large black “X” as a warning to the club’s staff not to serve alcohol to the band. Upon returning to Washington, D.C., the band suggested this same system to local clubs as a means to allow teenagers in to see musical performances without being served alcohol. The mark soon became associated with the straight edge lifestyle. In recent years, more music venues and (even dance clubs) have began adopting this system.

A variation involving a trio of X’s (xXx) originated in artwork created by Minor Threat’s drummer, Jeff Nelson, in which he replaced the three stars in the band’s hometown Washington, DC flag with X’s.[3] The term is sometimes abbreviated by including an X with the abbreviation of the term “straight edge” to give “sXe”. By analogy, hardcore punk is sometimes abbreviated to “hXc”. The X symbol can be used as a way to signify a band or person is straight edge, by adding the letter to the front and back, for example, the band ‘xFilesx’. “

So my question is this, is following a straight edge lifestyle a little too extreme? Should one go as far as to get some ink as a symbol of your commitment?  Am I ready to become Straight Edge, or will I miss the allure of a glass of full-bodied red wine?