Whether you have been to one or not, everyone has heard of some townhouse party story, and the drunken craziness that comes from the amount of alcohol that is consumed in a single Fri. night.

For those of you that have yet to drink don’t skip over this article so quickly thinking that this doesn’t pertain to you. For those of you who think that you’re a beast and can handle your liquor, rethink all those times you ended up hugging that toilet bowl before thinking that this article is only for the lightweights.

When drinking alcohol, you have to know your boundaries. No—not the ones that you might make in your head—the ones that your body is telling you.

Not everyone knows the limits of their bodies, and when out at Paulies on a Thurs. night, you tend to forget the amount of alcohol that you are consuming until you find yourself slung over a friends arm walking back to campus.

In America today more college students are sent to the hospital from alcohol poisoning than any other illness. Between 2004 and 2010, more than 250 college students died from alcohol poisoning or alcohol related incidents. These students weren’t unlike anyone else and simply thought that they were having a good time; in majority of the cases, the students were thought to have just passed out in bed and weren’t found dead until later in the afternoon the next day by friends.

Don’t think that it can’t happen to you.

The NIAAA (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism) has an alcohol to body mass chart that can be used to help you understand how to better control the amount that you can handle without putting yourself into physical danger.  If you are a larger guy you can hold more alcohol than your girlfriends, but that doesn’t mean you need to pound down 3 pitchers of beer a night. Remember, it takes about two hours for the adult body to completely break down a single drink. If you are at the bar and beginning to feel a buzz within two hours, think about how many drinks you have had already and opt for just a water to save yourself from that hangover.

Stay within low-risk levels: For men, no more than four standard drinks on any day, and for women, no more than three on any day.

Before you decide that you are going to finish off that entire bottle of cheap tequila, or think that the best way to get attention is to shot-gun five Natty Lights in a row, keep in mind that while you may be living the glory at the moment, that moment could be your very last.

If you think that a friend might have alcohol poisoning, get them to the hospital immediately. If you are unable to personally get them there, call an ambulance. Even if you don’t know for sure, it is better to be safe than attending a funeral.

For more information or to calculate your own safe amount of alcohol intake, please go to: www.rethinkingdrinking.niaaa.nih.gov