Yesterday we told you how Southern California has some of the best universities in the world.

In fact, Caltech ranked number one and UCLA made number 13 in the latest World University Rankings by Times Higher Education in the UK. But that doesn't mean even the smart kids won't find a way to get temporarily stupid.

Which brings us to the latest trend in self-destruction. No, it's not 2C-I or even bath salts. It's …

… butt chugging.

Yep. If your favorite undergrad suddenly seems like a real drunk-ass, you can probably blame this phenomenon.

It hit the headlines late last month after University of Tennessee frat boy Alexander Broughton was hospitalized following and alleged backdoor drinking sesh (he denies said booty chugging).

The chug involves a sort of anal beer bong or, as it has sometimes been described, an alcohol enema (or, better yet, a backside douche, a.k.a. the Joe Francis), in which the buzz hits one harder because the booze is much more quickly absorbed into the blood stream via anal transmission. (Photos).

And yeah, it's back-to-school party season, so there is some concern that the young and dumb will harm themselves with this particular stunt. Experts warn it can quickly get you from zero to alcohol poisoning to a hospital bed and even, possibly, to death.

So don't worry about ecstasy, kids. Just remember not to put harmful things in your butt (said the Republican party).

[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]

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