Here's the history - and mystery - of drunkenness

(CNN) - Marijuana got all the headlines in 2014, but when it comes to Americans' favorite method of altering their state, booze remains on top.

Gallup reported earlier this year that 64% of U.S. adults say they "have occasion to use alcoholic beverages" and other studies suggest it increases significantly this evening. There will be tragic ramifications of course - and here's where we caution you to drink responsibly and take a cab home - but let us for now think of the glass as half full.

Think about that for a second: most of us will drink this New Year's Eve. Whether champagne, beer, wine or liquor, it's a process and tradition older than most of the world's religions. Even though it's often bad for us.

After all, as Frank Sinatra once said: "alcohol may be man's worst enemy, but the bible says love your enemy."