Drinking

The man did not seem to be a serious student of wine. Disheveled, unshaven and reeking of booze, he demanded a glass, rested his head on the tasting-room counter and loudly moaned. Knocking over a "wet floor" sign and lurching into displays, he stumbled into eight wineries in one afternoon last week, and six refused him service.

For THOSE who have poured themselves a stiff cocktail at the end of an awful day -- or a spat, traffic ticket or office crisis -- it's official: You are likely trying to distract yourself from negative emotions. And if this is how you tend to respond, you're more likely to be a man than a woman. A Yale University study finds that under stress, women report more sadness and anxiety than men, but men report more craving for alcohol.

The closer teens live to where alcohol is sold, the greater the seeming risk of binge drinking and driving under the influence. Researchers from the Pardee Rand Graduate School in Santa Monica researched the relationship between proximity to alcohol retailers in zones around homes in California and drinking in children ages 12 to 17.

USC kicker Mario Danelo had a blood-alcohol level nearly three times the legal limit when his body was found at the bottom of a San Pedro cliff last month, but the manner of his death remains undetermined, according to a Los Angeles County coroner's report released Monday. The body of Danelo, 21, was found about 150 feet below Point Fermin Park on Jan. 6. Deputy medical examiner Jeffrey P. Gutstadt wrote in the autopsy report that Danelo died of multiple traumatic injuries.

A Canadian television network was reprimanded for airing a program that showed a man swearing and drinking beer while driving a motorboat, and then telling children they should mimic him. The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council was particularly unhappy that Global Television had shown the sports program, "Fatbluesky," at 10 a.m. Saturday, when children were most likely to be watching.

Purim, a holiday celebrating the foiling of a plot to kill the Jews of ancient Persia, is often used by many -- including the underaged -- as an excuse to get drunk. The festival, which starts today at sundown, is observed with costumes, storytelling and boisterous behavior. But growing concern about excessive drinking on Purim is prompting some Jewish leaders and groups to call for moderation or to suggest that celebrants forgo alcohol entirely.

EVEN five minutes of straight talk from a physician can reduce alcohol-related injuries and accidents among problem drinking patients, a new study reports. In the review of 21 separate clinical trials, researchers at Newcastle University in England and Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine found that brief interventions by a physician reduced alcohol consumption by an average of four drinks a week.

Authorities are trying to crack down on one of the worst-kept secrets in Hollywood: underage stars partying hard at trendy clubs on the Sunset Strip and Hollywood Boulevard. Doormen at Hollywood hot spots have been lifting the velvet rope for teen stars for years. Two decades ago, Drew Barrymore became tabloid fodder after being spotted drinking at Hollywood clubs when she was 13 and 14.

Johnny Grant, the longtime Hollywood showman and Tinseltown's unofficial mayor, has seen a lot of star antics over the decades. But from his penthouse apartment atop the trendy Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, Grant, 84, said he's not happy about what he's seeing today -- especially amid investigations focusing on underage starlets partying at Hollywood hot spots. "They're out of hand today," Grant said. "They used to be much more discreet. Studios used to control their images.

Whenever Lindsay Lohan so much as sweats, it is required that some journalist, somewhere, write a story about it. So here is that story. After all, you can learn a lot about people from their sweat. If they've been exercising or eating cloves of garlic. Or in Lohan's case, if she's been drinking too much alcohol, as she has been known to do on occasion.