my friend used to have to drink to get the nerve to talk to girls at clubs/bars and i hated seeing him do this, but he was extremely shy and the alkeehol was just a placebo to make him feel confident, now years later he will still drink some but he does not need it to talk to the ladies, and i reminded him about how i used to tell him this back then.
i know it's harder for some to step out and take a chance at talking/asking a girl if she would like to dance or maybe go out to dinner, but it can be done without having to drink booze or get high. The way i combated shyness was when i was in school or anywhere for that fact, but i was always the class clown making people laugh and that helped me out of my shell and got lots of people liking me because most people like to laugh and be happy...