Ban caffeinated booze

Opinion: November 3, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Seattle Times: Caffeinated booze is a growing menace. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration should heed calls by attorneys general in a majority of states and ban drinks that mix alcohol and caffeine.

The FDA is investigating the safety of caffeine in alcoholic beverages. Health experts can tell them that the combination of a stimulant (caffeine) and a depressant (alcohol) in a single drink can be dangerous. A stimulant can mask a person’s level of intoxication, possibly leading to an alcohol-related accident or other injuries. These drinks also cause dehydration, which can be fatal.

Time for the FDA to, if not prohibit these drinks outright, strictly regulate them.

This region saw nine Central Washington University students sent to the hospital after drinking a beverage called Four Loko at a party. A single 23.5-ounce can of the caffeinated alcoholic drink is comparable to five or six beers.

The college students had blood-alcohol contents ranging from 0.123 percent to 0.35 percent. That is beyond the legal limit of 0.08. The potentially lethal limit is 0.30.

Twenty-five state attorneys general successfully persuaded MillerCoors Brewing to drop its caffeinated alcoholic drink, Sparks Red. Anheuser-Busch and a few other energy-drink makers removed caffeine from their alcohol-energy drinks in response to lawsuits and complaints by consumer health organizations.

But similar concoctions remain on the market. They are sold in bright containers and given hip names in an effort to market to young people.