Totally Loco For Loko

Ashley Major

Columnist

While the popular caffeinated alcoholic beverage Four Loko is nothing new amongst party-going youth, the ethically charged drink has recently exploded in popular media, due to controversy pertaining to possible health and safety risks. With attention-grabbing packaging, flavor disguised tastes, and the ability to fit a thrifty student’s budget, drinks such as Four Loko and Joose are undoubtedly suitable for buzz-seeking college kids. Government officials, colleges and parents are becoming increasingly concerned with the affects of combining alcohol, a depressant, caffeine, a stimulant and sugar into one large all-too-accessible canned party. Something must be done about such a combination available on college campuses.

In December 2009, the FDA sent letters to 30 manufactures of the popular party-staples to prove the safety of their products. Phusion Projects LLC., the company that makes Four Loko, stated to CBS News that their product is no different than “having coffee after a meal with a couple glasses of wine.” While this can be arguably so, the reality is Four Lokos are sending America’s youth to emergency rooms while a responsible cup of coffee after dinner seems comparably unjust.

Not to mention the outrageous amounts of added sugar used to encourage consumption and returned customers. Since the investigation into the safety concerns surrounding the drinks, Michigan has banned the product from their shelves. States such as New York, Washington, Oregon, Kansas and Washington D.C. are likewise advocating for the matter in hopes of protecting future users.

While it is of objective concern that government officials take proactive steps to ensure the safety of an unsuspecting consumer, the notion that banning a product such as Four Loko from shelves is placing a bandage on a more serious wound.

While the commodity is proved dangerous in itself, the issue of real concern is the tendency of binge drinking. Although I believe it is necessary to remove harmful products off of American shelves, it appears that public health officials owe their concern and attention to fighting binge drinking as a whole rather than a supply-demand product of its creation. However, since controversy over the drug surrounds over-consumption, it appears obvious that this is not a product we can responsibly keep on our shelves.

While the availability of the drink at a 7-Eleven can be said to encourage binge drinking, Four Loko has developed a stigma that now goes hand in hand with said overindulgence. A typical can of Four Loko contains 23.5-ounces of liquid, 12 percent alcohol and approximately one cup of coffee. The alcohol percentage is proportionate to drinking five 12-ounce beers. In relative terms, a can of Four Loko is equal to a night of binge drinking easily disguised in a trendy can with a fruity flavor. The impacts of the canned drug are becoming desired amongst American youth who seek its obliterating affect, an even further frightening notion.

Alcohol undisputedly pertains to more societal damage than any other drug available. While illegal drugs pose a larger threat to its immediate consumers, the danger of alcohol consumption, more commonly than not, affects those surrounding the user most devastatingly.

Alcoholic beverages spiked with caffeine raise the stakes of this parallel drastically as the caffeine counteracts the depressant, making the user feel less drunk, sustaining the alcohol’s effect and allowing them to stay awake, drinking more and carrying their high into the night. The dangerous nature of this sequence and the potential for peril to personal health as well as communal safety is obvious to those weighing the concerns. Four Loko and comparable drinks are not products Virginia can responsibly support.