The thesis of this paper is that drinking alcohol is commonplace: most Americans indulge once in awhile and it is widely considered not to be a problem. People ages 21 to 25 drink more than any other age group. Even this is not in and of itself a problem. Rather it is more a right of passage so to speak. What is alarming, though, is one out of five reportedly quickly progress to binge and then to outright alcohol abuse.