Binge drinking
The high levels of binge drinking among young people and the adverse consequences that include increased risk of alcoholism as an adult and liver disease make binge drinking a major public health issue. Recent research has found that young college binge drinkers who drink four or more drinks on more than three occasions in the past two weeks are statistically 19 times more likely to develop alcoholism than non-binge drinkers, though the direction of causality remains unclear. This is particularly interesting as drinking for the sole purpose of getting drunk, remains a major health and social problem on college campuses across the United States. Heavy and regular binge drinking during adolescence is associated with an increased risk of alcoholism. Approximately 40% of alcoholics report heavy drinking during adolescence. Repeated episodes of excessive drinking, especially at an early age, are thought to cause a profound increase in the risk of developing an alcohol-related disorder (ICD-10, harmful use/dependence syndrome). Heavy drinking is also closely associated with depression. Those with severe depression have higher rates of alcohol abuse than those with low depression.  College students who are depressed are more susceptible to use alcohol than college students who are not depressed. In a study conducted at Harvard University, it was found that about 32% of students surveyed were diagnosable for alcohol abuse and about 6% were diagnosed as alcohol dependent. Binge drinking is also becoming an increasing problem in Australian adolescents, the Australian School Students Alcohol and Drug survey conducted by the National Cancer Council discovered that around 33% of students between years 7 and 11 consumed alcohol in the week leading up to the survey, they also found that 10% of the students participated in binge drinking at a consumption level which is considered dangerous to adults. When the survey results were separated into age groups the findings were that 13% of 15-year-old's and 22% of 17-year-old's had alcohol consumption levels above the daily maximum suggested to adults and that 20% of 17-year-old's had a consumption level of alcohol considered risky to adults.