Cripes and dammit. Our bestest homies over at The Frisky have reported some awful, awful news about the pill. Though it varies by which pill you're taking (mostly progesterone vs. estrogen + progesterone), there are some heretofore unknown issues with birth control pills (unknown to us, at least).

Quickly: A) Booze and the pill need the liver to function. The former may hinder the latter.
B) When you take the pill is pretty important.
C) It's a good idea to make up missed pills.
D) Some medication (antibiotics and anti-seizure medicine) screws with the pill's efficacy.
E) Some cheapy medication contains fewer active ingredients.

Problems C and E are pretty much common sense. Don't buy birth control in Tijuana with a forged prescription and take all the pills, placebos included. Problems B and D are totally salvageable. Pop that little ricky after you brush your teeth and chat up your doctor (plus Web MD) when you go on new meds. Problem A is pretty significant. This is the time that you really need the pill to put in overtime. There's an inverse correlation between how much you drink and your likelihood of using a jimmy and we're guessing that there is an inverse correlation between how much you drink and how effective the pill is. Any sober dude and wrap it up (begrudgingly) or pull out, it would take some kind of whiz kid to have the presence of mind to do that after a dozen buca shots (or bombs).

Quick caveat, The Frisky got this from an article on Fox News. The same fair and balanced guys had someone on the other night equating birth control with abortion per a missive from the Bush administration. And we're not sure if this top 5-pill problems article is a scared straight tactic or an honest public service. This is what we get for politicizing media. Be sure to give The Frisky a look, our bud Rachel Kramer Bussel throws in her 2-cent (sic).
And because it's hilarious, enjoy SNL's latest birth control commercial: