In the the same way that "second hand smoke" refers to one of several
negative effects that smokers have on the people around them, I
suppose "second hand alcohol" refers to the effects of having drunks
in your vicinity, i.e. having them throw up on you, fall down on you,
crash cars into you, fondle your girlfriend, wife, or both at cocktail
parties, etc. etc. etc.
Truly a rampant social scourge that cries out for remediation.
Actually, I can see the point. Drunks are one of the least fun people
to be around in the world (transvestite Jehovah's Witnesses with bad
breath knocking on your door at 9:00 Sunday morning are worse,
however); the reason I don't drink is because I've observed the
behavior of people who do.
The real effect of alcohol that I object to is what I call "third
hand", i.e., how the substance addict in question dies. In this case I
prefer third hand cigarette smoke to third hand alcohol: the cigarette
smoker usually dies slowly and quietly, under an oxygen tent, coughing
up blood into a plastic mask; the drinker frequently takes a half
dozen or so of us along with him.