Gin Lane by William Hogarth, 1751

The Gin Craze was a period in the first half of the 18th century when the consumption of gin increased rapidly in Great Britain, especially in London. Many people over-consumed and the city had a virtual epidemic of extreme drunkenness-provoking moral outrage and a legislative backlash. 

Gin was blamed for misery, rising crime, prostitution, madness, higher death rates and falling birth rates. The vice-chamberlain Lord Hervey remarked that, “Drunkenness of the common people was universal, the whole town of London swarmed with drunken people from morning till night.” 

Sources: 1, 2