VA - Virginia Tech Airport
Most local restaurants frequented by local college students are serving a potent mixture of alcohol and energy drinks. Energy drinks such as Redbull, Rockstar, Venom, Adrenalin Rush, and other beverages that contain large amounts of caffeine, ginseng, guarana, and taurine are mixed with alcohol to create different colorful ―shooters‖ and other mixed drinks.
Some drinks such as Sparks, Tilt, Joose, Raze, and Four are already mixed and ready for sale, and are available in most retail stores in our community. These colorful 16 – 23.5 ounce cans contain caffeine and other stimulates, as well as having up to 11% alcoholic content by volume. For example, one can of Joose contains the equivalent of 4.3 standard drinks of alcohol (Four has 5.2) and 2 to 3 cups of coffee, and an undisclosed amount of ginseng and taurine, which a study at Cornell Medical College indicates may have sedative effects.
Low energy is one of the ways the body monitors consumption and is a cue to intoxication levels. Thus, energy drinks combined with alcohol can easily mask intoxication levels. Without this natural gauge, one could consume a harmful amount of alcohol and make it difficult to judge intoxication.
A study by researchers at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine found that students who consumed alcoholic energy beverages were twice as likely to be involved in alcohol-related accidents and injuries. They were also more likely to be involved in drunk driving.
High levels of intoxication are not only harmful to the consumer, but also put a person and the community at risk when operating a motor vehicle. Recent studies indicate that those mixing energy drinks with alcohol demonstrate poorer driving skills than those similarly intoxicated who did not consume an energy drink. Clearly, energy drinks and alcohol are a bad combination that supports high-risk drinking, can increase drinking and driving rates, and result in poorer driving skills that increase the risk of accidents and injury.
The objections of law enforcement officials as well as parents and leading public health organizations caused Anheuser-Busch, the producer of Sparks, to agree to pull the product from the market. Still, many other alcoholic energy drinks are available. And, while it seems that we are making some headway in the fight against alcoholic energy drinks, local bars and restaurants continue to serve these dangerous concoctions.
In the interest of personal and community safety, it is important to make our community aware of the risks and to work with Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control, the Commonwealth, local retail establishments, and restaurants to remove these from local retail shelves and restaurant menus.
Steven Clarke
Campus Alcohol Abuse Prevention Center
Virginia Tech
sclarke@vt.edu
Download our Community newsletter at:
http://filebox.vt.edu/users/sclarke/BCCOA%20Newsletter%20March%2009.pdf
Great Post!
Steven, I think this is a great article. I think many people (especially students) who could be 'anti-drug' may not realize the similar and dangerous effects these drinks create. Thanks for posting.