Even with the Oregon Liquor Control Commission’s ban on alcoholic energy drinks, some University students have stayed one step ahead by not only choosing to stock up on the 23.5 ounce concoction, but also choosing to sell it.
“There’s a market for it, obviously,” said a University student who asked that his name not be used. “We know plenty of people who like Loko but didn’t have the foresight to stock up.”
Both the student and his friend decided to buy two cases of Four Loko each. There are 12 cans of Four Loko in a case, giving them a total of 48 cans of the banned drink.
“It’s nothing serious, but we thought it would be kinda funny to profit off of the OLCC’s stupidity,” the student said.
But the OLCC doesn’t see this as a laughing matter.
Calling together an emergency session after the federal Food and Drug Administration released its findings on alcoholic energy drinks, which called them “adulterated,” or unsafe because of the combination of caffeine and alcohol, the OLCC banned the seven brands listed by the FDA, some of which are manufactured by a Portland-based company.
The drinks banned are Four Loko, Joose, Core High Gravity HG Green, Core High Gravity HG Orange, Lemon Lime Core Spiked, Moonshot and Max. The ban was effective immediately after the Saturday afternoon meeting.
Although the ban is temporary, the OLCC will come up with more permanent and far-reaching restrictions in six months when it finalizes a rule change.
OLCC spokesperson Christie Scott said there was potential for more products to be included under the alcoholic energy drink ban, but the OLCC does not know the specific drinks yet.
Meanwhile, Tim Baggs, distributor of the Portland-based Charge Beverage Corporation, which sold the now-banned Core High Gravity HG Green, Core High Gravity HG Orange and Lemon Lime Core Spiked, said that the ban is tough, but that they’re not fighting the OLCC on the restriction.
“The goal was to make an energy drink and alcohol in a can for legal-age consumers,” Baggs said. “We’re going to continue to focus on making really good flavored malt beverages in a can.”
But what is the fuss about in the first place?
Four Loko, along with other alcoholic energy drinks, is a malt beverage with caffeine, and it became the subject of national controversy after a party at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Wash., got out of control when nine students were severely alcohol-poisoned by the drink.
Since then, a 21-year-old woman died in a car accident after consuming Four Loko in Maryland.
What makes Four Loko so potent is that in 23.5 ounces, the beverage contains 12 percent alcohol, which is equivalent to six beers.
Combining 12 percent alcohol with 135 milligrams of caffeine, or a cup of coffee, is dangerous, Dr. Gary Young, Sacred Heart medical director of the emergency room units at both Riverbend and University, said.
“It will allow the person to drink more alcohol because they counteract each other, and since the caffeine allows you to drink more, you end up more easily with alcohol poisoning,” Young said.
Young’s statement is backed up by a 2008 University of Florida study, which found that in young adults exiting bars, those who drank caffeinated drinks mixed with alcohol were three times more likely to leave the bar highly intoxicated and were four times more likely to get behind the wheel of a car.
The study randomly tested 800 people leaving a college bar district between the hours of 10 p.m. and 3 a.m.
Young said that anytime a person drinks alcohol in excess, there is a problem.
He also said that although the Eugene and Springfield hospitals have not seen many hospitalizations directly related to Four Loko and other alcoholic energy drinks, that doesn’t mean young people are not coming into facilities with alcohol poisoning.
“If people are drinking socially, that’s one thing,” he said. “But if people are drinking to get wasted, then that’s a medical condition that could lead to a medical emergency.”
University student Blaze Russell said that after trying Four Loko, she understood why it was nicknamed “liquid cocaine.”
“I’ve only had it once and I blacked out. Surprise,” Russell said dryly. “I was drinking beforehand, so that’s why I probably blacked out. I’m pretty lightweight, but I still think I wouldn’t have gone off the deep end. I didn’t know how much alcohol is in it.”
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