In the name of combating "binge drinking"—an English-language term often used to describe the practice of consuming large amounts of alcohol in a short period of time with the intent to become intoxicated—lawmakers recently voted to ban the sale of alcohol to those under 18, thereby raising the minimum age by two years from what it had been. They also voted to ban flat-rate sales or free-flow alcohol promotions, i.e., "open bar" events. These decisions, taken as part of the prevention and public health component of the "Hospitals, Patients, Health, and Territories" bill, reflect recent extensive media coverage of drinking practices among adolescents and young adults. The objective here is to frame this public debate within a quantitative perspective based primarily on recent self-report surveys conducted among the general population. These surveys provide indicators on various aspects of the phenomenon: experimentation, frequency of consumption and intoxication, specific contexts of alcohol consumption, as well as associated factors. Their repetition over time allows for measuring the evolution of these indicators in France.[article excerpt]