Four Loko To Be Banned On Staten Island? It Should Be!
U.S. Senator Charles Schumer is seeking to ban the sale of caffeinated alcoholic drinks in New York. These drinks contain up to 12% alcohol by volume and are commonly sold in a colorful, 23.5 ounce can. Most domestic U.S. beer contains between 4-5% alcohol content by volume and are sold in 12-ounce cans. Consuming one can of these drinks delivers the equivalent of 3 cans of beer, but with 50% less drinking. With common brand names such as Four Loko and Sparks, they are sold in brightly colored cans for between $2.00 and $3.00 each. These drinks were recently blamed for the hospitalization of six Ramapo College students last month for alcohol poisoning.
Apart from the price, the danger lies in combining alcohol (a depressant) and caffeine (a stimulant) in a fruit-flavored canned drink. The drink, consumed mainly by college students, allows a person to drink well past the point they would normally be too drunk to continue. The caffeine, as a stimulant, masks the effects of the alcohol, and provides you with additional energy and stamina to continue drinking. Once the caffeine wears off, the full effect of the alcohol is felt. Since the caffeine actually disguises how much alcohol that you have actually consumed, the user may become more intoxicated to the point of passing out or even alcohol poisoning.
The low cost, colorful cans and "high energy" marketing, the drinks may be mistaken by younger children for other caffeinated but non-alcoholic drinks. The low cost and ease of availability at stores such as 7-11 may also help to get the drinks into the hands of teenagers. These drinks are a danger and should be better regulated. We cannot wait for the FDA to determine if alcohol and caffeine are safe, in the meantime college students are being hospitalized after consuming the drinks. These drinks are a deadly combination of drugs that allow teenagers and young adults to become very drunk, very quickly, very cheaply. Support the ban now!
