Sorry for this wall of text, I just kind of went on my own rant.

Keep in mind that this is completely anecdotal, but the older I get the more I feel like (and witness) getting together to drink has become the "grown up" way to basically say "Hey, I miss you" or "Lets hangout." When I was younger my friends and I would get together and do absolutely nothing, and have an awesome time, even if we just rode bikes around the neighborhood talking, it was nice to just be in each others presence. But as I get older the more I see that people have a hard time just telling each other what they mean to each other and making time to actually get together to do absolutely nothing, I get that we live busier lives, but it seems like it's not socially acceptable (age wise) to just hang out for no reason at all. So I feel like "getting a drink sometime" is an excuse to actually hang out and chat. So this becomes the acceptable way to hang out and socialize. Almost all of the people I know who drink (which is everybody accept me) hate the taste of alcohol, and a few have explicitly expressed that it has become the acceptable way to "hang out" as adults. Also, in regards to people "simply trying to fill a need for belonging" I know what you're trying to say, but again, anecdotally I feel that everybody has their own insecurities and we all have an implicit drive to belong and socialize, and as we get older and people leave you're life it's harder not to act in conforming ways to meet your needs. I don't think we should be shaming people who "drink to fit in", Yes I agree it's a lame thing to do but there is an underlying reason as to why it happens. I totally feel you're frustration when it comes to people thinking that abstaining is weird. From my experience people get really insecure about it, always thinking you're trying to "one-up" them and look down on them, and that's a reflection of them and you should just let those people from your life. I had recently just started casually dating this girl and she invited me to her friend's birthday party. I show up with a friend to the bar and she's hammered and basically starts a fight with me since I don't drink and says that I lied to her about not drinking (which I never did, we just had never been in a situation/conversation where drinking came up) and that I was judging her and her friends and told me to leave. This isn't the first time my not drinking has been a problem with dating. It's ridiculous, but to me it just shows that that person has some insecurities that they need to work on. I don't mind going to parties or being around people who drink; part of this is probably because I have a great group of friends who actually support and encourage my not drinking and have had my back in multiple occasions when drunk assholes have tried to start some shit with me for being sober. Yes it can be a lame culture, but to me, it just shows how loneliness can lead to conformity.

Just keep interested in the things you love, listen to some hardcore and don't let negative people get to you.