I had two best friends from High School and we all ran hard back in the day. Both of my best friends became functioning alcoholics. things caught up with my one buddy as his drinking cost him his marriage, his career, his house, his health and he died at 36 from a diabetic coma after a hard night of drinking. His employer spent over $90K for rehab three times but had to fire him as he could not stop and he then lost everything including his life. I can't say how much he drank as he would hide it.

My other buddy drank a fifth of cheep rum everyday for ten years straight. He was a shift worker and people would talk as you would see his car in the parking lot of the liquor store every morning so he could be first in the door. He was drinking by 9am and out by noon every day then headed to work by 3pm.
After a visit to the E.R the doc must have spooked him as he stopped cold turkey and has been clean over 10 years now.
However 10 years of hard drinking aged him big time.

I ran hard with these guys in my 20's to early 30's but I never crossed that line for some reason. I believe its genetic as both of my friends fathers died from drinking. My mom and dad never drank a drop.

It was all fun and games in those early yeas, The PJ parties, Beer ball and kegs or just a beer on a Friday night but when you hit 30's 40's and 50's its not so much fun and games when it takes your drinking buddies...