Four Loko: This and Other Caffeinated Alcoholic Beverages Threaten Young People
Just when you thought sending your kids off to college couldn’t get any more dangerous, in walks “blackout in a can.” Four Loko, a canned drink with an alcohol content of twelve percent, mixes caffeine and alcohol for a potential deadly combination. One can of Four Loko is like drinking six beers and multiple shots of espresso at the same time.
The biggest problem with Four Loko is that the caffeine keeps the drinkers awake and, thus, able to drink more; someone who is drinking straight alcohol would likely fall asleep before being able to consume that much alcohol. Once the caffeine wears off, the drinker will suffer the full effects of the alcohol consumption. Research has shown that students who drink Four Loko are more likely to erroneously believe that they are capable of driving an automobile while intoxicated than students who are drinking just alcohol.
The cost of Four Loko is very attractive to poor college students – one twenty-four ounce can costs just $2.50. While colleges and universities have long struggled with regulating on-campus partying, I’m sure administrators now long for the days when keg beer and Ecstasy were the popular refreshments.
Nine college kids in Washington were recently hospitalized after falling ill at an on-campus party. First responders originally assumed that the students had taken date-rape drugs like Ecstacy or Rohypnol and had overdosed. However, they were later shocked to discover that the injuries were actually caused by a cans of Four Loko. Approximately fifty students, mostly underage, turned up for the party where Four Loko was the drink of choice. Police responded to a distress call and found one of the female attendees unconscious in a car parked at a local supermarket. Friends of the girl then escorted police to the party. Partygoers reported that several female attendees had passed out or vomited after drinking Four Loko.
Toxicology reports later revealed that none of the students treated at the hospital had ingested any drugs. Instead, their blood alcohol content (BAC) readings ranged from one and a half to four times the legal limit or from 0.12 to 0.35 (with 0.30 being potentially fatal). Washington State school administrators have temporarily banned caffeinated alcoholic drinks pending a review of the incident.
While, admittedly, the Washington State incident is certainly one of the more serious episodes of Four Loko poisoning, a New Jersey college has also had to ban the beverage when twenty-three kids were taken to the hospital after drinking it.
However, the most serious incident involving Four Loko happened in New York City during the beatings of three men in the Bronx by a vicious gang. Authorities believe that the men were targeted by gang members because they were gay. The attackers forced one of the men to drink ten cans of Four Loko, which caused him to be unable to recall most of the incident.
Developed by three guys from Ohio State University, Four Loko was introduced to the US beverage market in 2005; 7-Eleven is a main retailer of the drink. It is available in a wide variety of fruit flavors and alcohol content (for instance, Indiana only allows the product to be sold in 6% alcohol strength). The European version of the drink contains Absinthe.
State attorneys in several states have already initiated investigations of companies that sell these alcoholic beverages, citing misleading marketing. Officials also fear that the products could be dangerous as they often mask the customary effects of alcohol intoxication. The FDA recently notified over two dozen producers of alcoholic energy drinks that they are opening an investigation into the safety of the product.
