First off, let me just say that I do understand your implication. Yes, alcohol as a form of social anodyne is, like many substances today, used way, way too often by people as a coping strategy for the ills of life. And we see them unfortunately become addicted and further plunge themselves and their families into hardship, not only physically, but spiritually and financially. So, I do get that, and I would agree with you that Christians shouldn't be too cavalier about their use of various forms of alchohol in what is otherwise, and admittedly, a sin soaked world.
On the other hand, if we are going to read Romans 14:17, then its meaning can not be extricated from, at least, the context which Paul intends for it to have as a part of his passage contained in the entirety of Romans Chapter 14. So, for us to see what Paul is truly targeting as a subject, we have to read the entire chapter, not just focus our eyes on one or two verses in the middle of the page and then do a big "pull out" of those verses where we then read them in a complete disconnect from the actual conceptual structure in which we do indeed find them.
In this, case, if we read the entirety of Romans chapter 14, we see that Paul isn't by implication denouncing the drinking of alcohol in total for each and every Christian, or that alcohol (or other various foods with possible moral influences) is by nature a sinful substance. No, what we see in chapter 14 is Paul asserting that there are SOME things in life that are neutral in their moral makeup, but which can be misused. And here, Paul is telling Christians on both sides of what we might call
the Habitual Divide, to think twice about how we evaluate those "who do" and "those who don't" in regard to these more morally neutral instances. The use of alcohol would be one of those instances.
The upshot of what Paul says, however, is that even though it may very well be within my prerogative as a Christian to drink alcohol without sinning in doing so, the solid fact that some of my brothers and sisters in Christ do have severe problems with habituating to alcohol means that I, even in my freedom to imbibe, should be very, very conscientious about how, when, where, why, and with whom I do my drinking. That is, if I do so decide to drink alcohol at any given time, and assuming that I have no inclination to ever be under alcohols influence in a way that is unbecoming of a Christian who holds Jesus as Lord. Because, for some people who have problems with habituation, then drinking alcohol actually
IS a sin for them. Then, for those for whom it is not, they must be aware and accountable in caring about this social situation and spiritual risk.
And that's the application that I think we see Paul clearly state in this chapter. He's not saying that some foods and drinks are just sinful all the way through, but that they may be sinful for some people and not for others.
Peace,
2PhiloVoid