Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) punished the drinker only at a later stage. He (peace and blessings be upon him) went on the expedition of Tabuk, and at night Abu Alqamah bin al-A'war al-Sulami (may Allah be pleased with him), dead drunk, came upon his (peace and blessings be upon him) chamber, until he cut some of the chamber's ropes. He (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "Who is this?" It was said: Abu Alqamah, in a state of intoxication. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Let someone take hold of him and leave him at his mount."
If this is authentically established from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), then the meaning is that he (peace and blessings be upon him) did not fix a prescribed punishment for wine in words, but he fixed it in practice. Nor does this contradict the hadith that preceded, in which a man was seen staggering drunk in the road and, as they were bringing him to him (peace and blessings be upon him), he ran off to Sayyiduna al-Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him); for the prescribed punishment had not been established against him by his own confession or by the testimony of upright witnesses, and it was only presumed that he was intoxicated, so he left him.
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب الأشربة والحد فيها / 17512