Four Loko
Boozing sends nearly 1,000 college students in Boston to ER each year
By adamg - 11/23/10 - 3:16 pmEvery year for the past three years, more than 900 college students have wound up in the ER with alcohol-related issues, according to the Boston Public Health Commission.
Commission Director Barbara Ferrer called the numbers alarming:
Professor: Most kids hadn't even heard of Four Loko until recently; now they're talking packie runs to Rhode Island
By adamg - 11/20/10 - 11:38 amDave Copeland, who teaches at Bridgewater State University, considers the hypocrisy of going after Four Loko without doing a thing about the underlying issue of binge drinking. He reports he surveyed his students at the beginning of the semester on how many had heard of Four Loko. Just 16%, he writes. Now, of course, they all know about it:
I have one student working on a feature story about students who drank it only after Four Loko made headlines. There are rumblings of "Rhode Island runs" to get the soon-to-be banned drink. Others are reverting back to Red Bull and Vodka, which, because it has less sugar, reduces the chances of going into diabetic shock after over-consumption ("and, like, no calories if you get sugar-free Red Bull," I overheard one student telling another). No one has been able to produce statistics showing an increase in alcohol-related deaths and emergency room visits that can be traced directly back to Four Loko.
Four Loko now Forgone-o
By adamg - 11/19/10 - 1:10 amState bans caffeinated alcohol in a can immediately:
The FDA ruling clearly states that these beverages are unsafe. Beginning today, all retailer and other businesses licensed by the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission are prohibited from selling, storing, importing or transporting these products in Massachusetts.
The Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission is declaring that alcoholic beverages with added caffeine are adulterated under state law. These products must be taken off the shelf immediately. Wholesalers must retrieve these products at or before their next delivery to retail licensees.
City Council orders hearing on banning booze-a-cinos
By adamg - 11/17/10 - 1:59 pmThe Boston City Council voted today to schedule a hearing on banning caffeinated alcoholic beverages such as Four Loko.
At-large Councilor John Connolly, co-sponsor of the request, said the city cannot simply sit by and let local liquor stores continue to stock the drinks while growing numbers of college and pre-college kids down them, putting themselves and others at risk. He said the combination of depressants - the alcohol - and stimulants - caffeine - leads to worse effects than alcohol alone.
Run on Four Loko ahead of possible ban, decaffeination
By adamg - 11/17/10 - 9:32 amMegan Costello tweets:
You know you're in Allston when the sign on the liquor store door reads "Four Loko is sold out." Attempted ban = great ad yet again.
From Rockwell's 'The Four Lokos'
By adamg - 11/16/10 - 7:18 pm
Richard Herold uncovered this masterpiece. Garrett Quinn posts a related flag.
Posted under this Creative Commons license. Via Chessie Monks.
State to try to ban Four Loko
By adamg - 11/15/10 - 7:42 pmChannel 4 reports the state Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission will file regulations this Friday to ban Four Loko and other blackout-in-a-can drinks that combine booze and caffeine. No word if it will attempt to ban rum and cokes or Irish coffee. The news comes the same day as two Boston city councilors said they wanted a hearing into possible actions against Four Loko.
Boston City Council going loko
By adamg - 11/15/10 - 1:41 pmHow does "Four Loko: Banned in Boston" grab you? The Boston City Council this week will consider a formal inquiry into the health risks posed by Four Loko, a brand of beverages that is what you'd get if you mixed some Red Bull with vodka, then dumped some sugar into it.
City councilors John Connolly and Mark Ciommo - whose Allston/Brighton district is loaded with the sort of people who might drink the stuff - want to convene a session to consider "any appropriate action" the city could take against Four Loko.
The two point to warnings from federal and local college health officials about the risks posed by combining alcohol and caffeine and to efforts by local colleges to get their students to stop drinking the stuff. Last week, a Northeastern student was hospitalized after possibly excessive Four Loko consumption - along with possibly excessive vodka consumption.
Four Loko sends Northeastern student to the hospital - well, that and the vodka
By adamg - 11/4/10 - 6:50 amThe Huntington News reports on a case of vomiting in a can:
The student said she had been drinking vodka and Four Loko at a party at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She was taken to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center by ambulance ...
About 90 minutes later, another student was spotted stumbling into a dorm and, when quetioned by EMTs summoned by an RA, admitted she'd been drinking Four Loko as well.
Northeastern's health services recently urged students to swear off Four Loko, in a letter that says nothing about vodka.
Harvard students warned to be smart about Four Loko
By adamg - 11/1/10 - 6:47 amHarvard health officials are urging students to stay away from "blackout in a can;" turns out some Harvard students required medical attention after drinking the stuff, the Crimson reports:
The advisory issued by Harvard followed a similar announcement made to students at Boston College last week, prompting one Harvard College administrator to "wonder if we're behind the curve in not being more vocal against its negative effects," according to an e-mail thread forwarded to a House list.
