Certainly situations exist where a drink will buy you some longevity. I can think of one place in particular where a drink will at least quadruple my session length. And there are other places where it won't make much difference. Of course, these are things I figured out on my own, through trial and observation.

Of course, it's up to the player to determine how much a certain alcoholic beverage will compromise your abilities. My tolerance for alcohol is relatively high, so a light American or Mexican macrolager has little effect on me. Mixed drinks can be a mixed bag, and knowing the tendencies of the barstaff on a property can help. One of the Big Two in Las Vegas is now requiring short pours of .75 fl oz of liquor instead of a full shot. Their ball-busting efforts have frightened even the crustiest of old-school bartenders into compliance. So a basic mixed drink (Jack & Coke, Bloody Mary, etc) on these properties could be only 1/3 or 1/4 the strength of the same drink served in more traditional (read: liberal) casino bars downtown or off-Strip.