If you walk around a college campus, most students are going to tell you they rarely drink or don't drink at all. When your school is known as the "party school," it's harder for students to tell you they don't drink and that they haven't been to at least one party. The reality is, whether you go out every weekend or stay in alcohol affects you in some way.

One of the things I've noticed on my college campus is that alcohol poisoning happens way more frequently than we are aware of. Just recently a student died in one of the dorms from alcohol poisoning.

It's frustrating because there are resources available to help those who need it. If you are going to be drinking, most college campuses have a medical amnesty law, which means that as long as you are actively seeking help for yourself or someone else you can't get in trouble.

Most are unaware of this and therefore don't seek the help they or someone else might need because they don't want to hurt themselves.

Another big killer in my hometown is drinking and driving. I had a friend of a friend who was killed by a truck driver that was drinking on the job. If you see someone who is intoxicated and is trying to drive, stop them. You might just save their life or someone else's.

If you are under 21 you shouldn't be drinking anyway, but if you are going to drink my advice would be to do it safely. Use the buddy system. Never drink alone and never drink and drive.

If you are going to a party with a group of friends leave the party with that same group. It's also a smart idea to have a designated driver that way everyone can get home safely.

If you aren't drinking alone you will always have someone there making sure you aren't showing any of the signs of alcohol poisoning and you can ensure that someone else isn't either.

One thing you should also do to drink safely is to keep track of your drinks. It's very simple to pour your own drinks and pace yourself. If you are drinking from a bottle pay attention to the alcohol content. You should also drink water in between drinks and never drink on an empty stomach.

Death caused by alcohol is unnecessary and very preventable. The simplest solution is not to drink but since we all know we are going to at some point in our lives we should at least do it safely.