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Four Loko

Boozing sends nearly 1,000 college students in Boston to ER each year

By adamg - 11/23/10 - 2:16 pm

Every 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:

When nearly 1,000 college students are winding up in emergency departments every year because of alcohol, that's a serious problem and a burden on the health care system. It makes the fact that companies would market alcoholic energy drinks like Four Loko to college-age students all the more appalling.

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 - 10:38 am

Dave 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:

Four Loko now Forgone-o

By adamg - 11/19/10 - 12:10 am

State 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.

City Council orders hearing on banning booze-a-cinos

By adamg - 11/17/10 - 12:59 pm

The 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 - 8:32 am

Megan 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 - 6:18 pm

The Four Lokos

State to try to ban Four Loko

By adamg - 11/15/10 - 6:42 pm

Channel 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 - 12:41 pm

How 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.

Four Loko sends Northeastern student to the hospital - well, that and the vodka

By adamg - 11/4/10 - 6:50 am

The 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.

Harvard students warned to be smart about Four Loko

By adamg - 11/1/10 - 6:47 am

Harvard 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.

Local liquor store stops selling blackout in a can

By adamg - 10/27/10 - 6:54 am

The Daily Free Press surveys liquor stores popular among the BU set about Four Loko: Liquor Land on Mass. Ave. says it's stopped selling the stuff because of an incident involving nine college students found passed out after drinking it (and also, vodka). Other stores, though, say they have no plans to stop and that it's flying off the shelf.

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