Adam Beggs,18, slammed down about a quart of vodka last Friday, the night he died. He guzzled it from a half-gallon jug, according to a court affidavit. His friends and law enforcement think it killed him.

He was partying with about 10 friends on Granite Street in Auburn. By all accounts, it was a prototypical gathering of young people, aged in their late teens or early twenties. A safe house, a bunch of booze and reckless abandoning of personal safety or wise precautions.

A 23-year-old man, Larondo Sweeting, has been charged with procuring the alcohol Beggs consumed that night. It’s gratifying to see these charges; accusing Sweeting isn’t shooting the messenger, rather the appropriate punishment for providing a controlled substance to a minor.

But Sweeting didn’t make Beggs raise that vodka bottle and drink. The reasons teenagers and young adults abuse alcohol defy easy understanding. This certainly describes Beggs’ case – money trouble and depression have been floated as reasons for his drinking. Others say a drinking contest occurred that night.

What we know is the more we try to control, educate or flat-out stop alcohol abuse among youth, the worse it becomes. The cycle is worse than vicious: it’s lethal and indiscriminate.

Bad decisions regarding alcohol will victimize the so-called troubled kids and high achievers. It cares less about class, color or creed. The only weapon we’ve ever had against bad booze judgment is responsible thinking, by drinkers and those around the drinking.

Those who watched Beggs down that harsh, transparent liquid probably wish they had called for an ambulance right there, right then. They don’t get a second chance. Neither do Beggs nor Sweeting.

Tonight, the eve of Thanksgiving, is reputedly the biggest (blank) night of the year. Fill in that blank with whatever you wish – party, social, drinking, clubbing, dancing, whatever. For many, the answer isn’t quiet or peaceful.

It’s a night made for youth – college kids returning home, high-schoolers facing a four-day weekend, young people of all stripes thirsting to see Thanksgiving Day from its technical beginning. We don’t begrudge them this opportunity – we’ve been known to let off some steam, too, on this night.

We urge caution and care. And clear-thinking to know when enough is enough, and recognition of dangerous situations before they become a tragedy. Think about Adam Beggs, and how those around him last Friday night are feeling now. What if…what if…what if…

What if, indeed?