Mackay-Smith is especially zeroed in on college women and the increasingly dangerous behaviors many of them engage in. “Recent trends suggest that not only are more college women drinking, but more women are drinking more,” she says, citing the “College Drinking Report” from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

“It’s called ‘convergence theory.’ Over time, it appears that women’s drinking behaviors are becoming more like men’s, which has always been more high-risk,” says Mackay-Smith.

What she is also seeing is the aggressive marketing by bars, such as 2-for-1 (or more) “happy hours,” and “ladies’ nights” where women drink for free. She also notes the types of drinks that many women currently favor, such as shots of hard liquor mixed with energy drinks or sweet-flavored drinks like Cosmopolitans, tend to mask the bitter taste of alcohol and lead to more drinking.

Such drinking behaviors are being targeted by peer groups, parents and college campuses, including Colorado State University. CSU was the site of the 2004 death of 19-year-old sophomore Samantha Spady who, according to autopsy reports, consumed 30 to 40 beers and shots of vodka within a 12-hour time frame. Spady passed out in the bedroom of a fraternity house where her body was discovered the next day.

Mackay-Smith says that Samantha Spady’s death, although just one of several thousand alcohol-related deaths that have occurred on U.S. college campuses over the past decade, re-awakened public awareness to high-risk drinking.

“It’s an issue that affects the whole community, and that’s one of our most important messages,” she says. “College campuses are not isolated institutions. Everyone must become involved, in terms of personal responsibility, [not just to themselves, but to one another.] In fact, it’s irresponsible not to be.”