>Source: human history.
The alcohol consumption statistics of certain ME states strongly disprove your thesis.
But it's very hard to find any data (let alone official data) on any of this, because nobody wants to suffer 72 lashes with 0-gague electrical cable at the hands of Iranian police for having admitted to have had a glass of wine or whatever one night.
Alcohol is an aspect of human civilization since per-historic times (as old as farming if not older) and always will be, regardless of what puritan Christians or foaming-at-the-mouth Mullahs might think of it.
Across the board (addiction, alcohol, abuse) any type of "zero-tolerance" "bring the hammer down" policy e.g. a blanket ban on alcohol has always been at best orthogonal and usually antithetical to harm reduction. As someone mentioned in the above comments, nuance is everything in providing support to the vulnerable --- ask any social worker. Religious guilt enjoys no such effectiveness.
(Sorry, two of the citations are in Persian, I couldn't find English sources. Google translate could be a workaround.)
Edit: spelling.
[1] https://www.bbc.com/persian/iran-features-49967036
I’ve lost track of how many people in this thread have blamed Christians. Why? Christian’s do not have a ban on alcohol. Where is this idea coming from, or are we just spreading hate?