By Lauren Anderson
Four Loko is a dangerous and caffeinated alcoholic beverage commonly consumed on college campuses. Four Loko was created by Phusion Projects LLC. in 2005. Four Loko started in Ohio when three students from Ohio State University noticed college students mixing alcohol and caffeine, which is common at most U.S. colleges these days. The three students formed Phusion Projects LLC. and created Four Loko. The drink got its name from the four main ingredients it contains: alcohol, caffeine, taurine, and guarana.
The Ohio State students began selling 23 oz. cans of 12% alcohol Four Loko at on-campus stores. In 2006, the drink became increasingly popular on college campuses across the nation, expecially the Midwest. At the same time, Four Loko’s effect started to be questioned. From 2007 to 2009, the drink gained momentum, was sold in 46 states, and started being exported to Europe. At the end of 2009, the Food and Drug Administration began investigating the effects of alcohol energy drinks, which, of course, included Four Loko.
In 2010, Four Loko’s status began to drastically change. Rap artists began mentioning and naming songs after the beverage. The drink was gaining attention in new, mostly negative ways. In September of 2009, New Jersey’s Ramapo College made headlines when 17 students and 6 visitors became violently ill from Four Loko and the campus banned the drink. In October, nine Central Washington University students were hospitalized after consuming Four Loko. In November, a long list of colleges banning Four Loko emerged, as well as banishment in Washington, Michigan, Oklahoma, and Utah. Even more shocking and disturbing, Four Loko-related deaths were being reported across the nation and Phusion Projects LLC. was being blamed, and even sued, for these deaths. In response to these negative outcomes, the company wrote letters to college presidents and deans offering their support of the students drinking Four Loko responsibly and even offered to pay for on-campus alcohol education. That same month, Phusion Projects LLC. agreed to halt shipment of Four Loko to New York after concerns mentioned by New York governor David Paterson.
With the FDA breathing down its neck and lawsuits seeming to become inevitable, Phusion Projects LLC. agreed to voluntarily remove caffeine from Four Loko in order to prevent future problems. After the caffeine was removed, states continued to ban Four Loko because of the previous damaging effects of the beverage.The state of Kansas and other cities across the nation have banned Four Loko after the caffeine removal.
The main issue with the drink is the mixture of caffeine and alcohol. When a person is drinking a non-caffeinated alcoholic beverage, they pass out after the point where their body has consumed their alcohol limit. However, Four Loko works differently. The alcohol is a depressant and caffeine is a stimulant. Instead of the alcohol slowing the body down, the caffeine counteracts that effect by stimulating the body and keeping a person awake. This means a person kept awake is still functioning and able to consume more alcohol when they probably should have passed out already. The effect is massive blackouts, vomiting, loss of memory, alcohol poisoning, and an increase of embarrassing behavior.
The college students looking to “get blackout drunk” are aware that Four Loko is the best product to consume. This is not good for many reasons. First, no person should be looking to black out, but the state of mind of college students is not the point of this story. Second, the trends of college-aged students seem to trickle down to high school and other underage students, whether it is young siblings of college students or just kids wanting to seem “cool.” Because Four Loko and other caffeinated alcoholic beverages are fairly new to the market, there is not enough research to know what other effects it might have on a developing body and mind. Third, because the drink is not banned in the entire United States, there might be an influx of illegal purchases of the product.
I am aware of the dangerous effects of Four Loko from personal and friends’ experience. I had heard Four Loko was potent and tasted good. Given that I am not a huge drinker, I thought I would buy 2 cans and be able to get the same effect as drinking a higher amount of alcohol for a cheaper price. I bought two cans of grape Four Loko on a Friday night. I was at a small party with a few friends, some older acquaintances, my boyfriend, and his roommates. Drinking games began and I was introduced to a game they called “beer ball.” The game is played by setting a beer can at each end of a table with a drink on both sides of the beer. There are two teams of two people each. They stand on opposite ends of the table, a ball is thrown at the middle beer can, and the other team tries to return it to the table before the team who threw the ball empties their drinks. If you have not caught on, the teams are in a race to chug their drinks. Unfortunately, my drink of choice for the evening had been Four Loko. Since I had a drink stronger than beer, I used a very small amout for the game, but ended up consuming both cans within two hours. Two alcoholc drinks in two hours seems like a small amount to most college students, including me at that time. Little to my knowledge were the later effects of Four Loko. After the games and some time just hanging out, a few of us decided to go to a party. The party was close to where we were, so we walked, and that is the last I remember of the night. The next morning I woke up with no recollection of what had happened, who I’d seen, and how I’d gotten home. Embarrassed and confused, I had to make phone calls to find out what happened. Fortunately, I had a boyfriend that took care of me and made sure my behavior was safe, but not all people drinking Four Loko are that lucky. The feeling I had the next morning scared me enough to never consume Four Loko again and begin researching the effects it had on others. I was not alone. Other University of Northern Iowa students, my friends, and other students across the nation experienced the same effects and most were just as frightened, embarrassed, and confused as I was. We wondered how this drink had such a powerful effect. I now know what caused my memory loss that night and how dangerous Four Loko is.
In the aftermath of Four Loko being taken off the market across the United States, young consumers have taken it upon themselves to make their own replacement. The newest caffeinated alcoholic beverage trend is DIY (Do It Yourself) Four Loko. People wanting to make their own Four Loko can go online to a website or youtube for visual instructions on how to make the drink. The ingredients are simple and in a taste test, the homemade drink won over actual Phusion Projects LLC. Four Loko. Internet technology may share in the blame for this new homemade alcoholic beverage trend, but the creation of DIY Four Loko is dangerous and scary to those concerned about the nation’s youth/young adults and their alcohol consumption. I hope college students can somehow wrap their heads around the dangerous effects of beverages like Four Loko and see that no good will come of consuming it. Is a quick buzz worth blackouts, hospitilization, or even death? It is not. I made sure my friends were aware of the dangers of this drink and I hope reading this story makes you think twice about what you are putting in your body.
Images via Wikimedia Commons
Sources: http://hubpages.com/hub/Four-Loko-alcohol-with-Caffeine, http://www.nowpublic.com/style/fourlokator-where-four-loko-banned-2728284.html, http://theweek.com/article/index/209434/the-rise-and-fall-of-four-loko, http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-20020858-10391704.html, http://www.neiuindependent.com/opinions/bottoms-down-four-loko-banned-1.1830742
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