DR. WALLACE: Our high school graduation ceremony is next Friday afternoon, and four close friends and I plan to have our first alcoholic drinks that evening. One of us has an older sibling who will be at home that night since his parents will be out of town for the weekend right after our graduation ceremony.

We are all athletes on the same sports team, and we made it through our entire high school careers without drinking a drop of alcohol. We worked out hard, played hard and were members of a very successful team. We plan to say goodbye to each other the way two characters did in the movie "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood." These characters, played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt, had a huge drinking night to wrap up their friendship before they parted. We plan to do the very same since many of us are soon scattering to different states and cities to attend college soon.

I know you'll tell me not to do this, but our minds are made up. My question to you is simple. Once we finish our bender, how long will it take for us to all sober up in the morning? We are supposed to go hiking with some nice girls that following morning. Should we all take ice cold showers or just drink black coffee the next day? — Ready To Party, via email

READY TO PARTY: You are correct; I am going to now tell you not to do this since it can harm your body and set each of you up for other potential future problems in your lives.

And to answer your last question, neither of these two activities will help you sober up quicker. Both are myths: Science tells us that only time can eliminate alcohol from a human body.

For each measure (drink) of alcohol you consume, it will take roughly one hour for the alcohol to become metabolized.

Excellent information can be found on this topic at www.alcoholrehabguide.org and I highly advise you and your friends to read this information immediately before you make the mistake you are contemplating.

There's a plethora of excellent information here, but here are some quick highlights that apply to your situation:

—Once swallowed, alcohol enters the digestive system and travels to the stomach and small intestine.

—Approximately 20% of alcohol is absorbed through the stomach, and most of the remaining 80% is absorbed in the small intestine, then directly to the bloodstream.

—Once in the blood, alcohol is rapidly transported throughout the entire body, which is why alcohol impacts so many different bodily systems.

—Most of the alcohol that enters the body eventually ends up in the liver, where the vast majority of alcohol metabolism takes place.

—In general, the liver can process one ounce of liquor (or one standard drink) in one hour.

—If an individual consumes more than this, the body's systems become saturated, and the additional alcohol will accumulate in the blood and other tissues until it can be metabolized. This is not good for the body and can lead to dangerous consequences for some individuals.

—If this saturation happens too many times or too fast during any one instance, damage to the brain and tissues of the body can develop. The result can be permanent organ damage or even death in cases of severe alcohol poisoning.

Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. Email him at rwallace@thegreatestgift.com. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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