We Americans do not think of alcohol when we hear “merry.” At least not any more than we would for “happy.”
Ok some of us probably do- but that’s because we like to drink, not because of anything special about “merry” or “happy” that we see. The drunkards think both words mean alcohol, and everyone else sees nothing harmful about either word.
”Merry” would be a problem in your culture, not ours.

