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Straws might be preferred for social convenience so you can focus more on the person sitting next to you than on drinking the drink in front of you. Straws can be less messy and avoid the risk of spilling a drink.

There are also accessibility reasons to need to use a straw. And some people prefer the taste of a drink with a straw.

>so you can focus more on the person sitting next to you than on drinking the drink

I never felt this was a big effort. Is this like people driving automatic transmission that assume it's dangerous to drive stick because it's "distracting"? It's not distracting once you get used to it.

Most of these things if you do them often enough will not require any mental energy.

Straws mechanically help drinking in many situations.

I'd argue you shouldn't be driving in those many situations (say, daily commute). But I'd rather a person's morning coffee be sucked than sipped behind the wheel.

(They don't obscure your vision. They help avoid spillage.)