So to summarise its OK to drink in moderation.
I'm not sure where you get that from.
The original poster described symptoms of alcohol dependance (alcoholism). The best advice given by the people who know what they are talking about was to talk to somebody about it. Generally they were supportive.
Other posters, who definitely don't know what they are talking about, seemed to think that LOC * was fine. This is strange because LOC * himself doesn't think that. Then we got onto the physical effects of alcohol, which has nothing to do with the subject in hand. One suspects that was part of a denial process, but I'm not too sure.
Put simply, alcoholism includes symptoms of craving, loss of control, tolerance and physical dependance. It's more complex than that, but you get the gist. The amount of alcohol you drink doesn't appear in that list, but craving does.
But anyway, to get onto the subject of whether moderate alcohol intake is good for your physical health. It's open to discussion. Studies have shown people who drink moderate amounts of alcohol have less of one type of heart disease. However, these people also have healthier lifestyles than people who don't drink. Drinking heavily actually keeps the coronary arteries clear, but they have greatly increased incidences of other cardiomyopathies.
Drinking heavily affects other organs, interestingly enough the liver is pretty good at coping with alcohol in most people, which is why standard liver function blood tests don't mean much.
There is now evidence coming in that there is no advantage to drinking moderate amounts. It's not overwhelming, but the evidence that drinking is good for you was never overwhelming either. Good advice would be that if you don't drink don't start, if you do drink and can do so responsibly switch to red wine. If you are an alcoholic you need to stop, cutting down doesn't tend to work.