Four Loko, or just plain loco?

By ACSH Staff — Oct 26, 2010
When Roslyn, Washington authorities responded to an off-campus University residence on Oct. 8 and found unconscious and semiconscious party-goers scattered throughout the building, they feared the mostly female victims had been unknowingly fed a date-rape drug.

When Roslyn, Washington authorities responded to an off-campus University residence on Oct. 8 and found unconscious and semiconscious party-goers scattered throughout the building, they feared the mostly female victims had been unknowingly fed a date-rape drug. But it turns out the nine students that were hospitalized were just heavily intoxicated, with an average blood-alcohol level of .23. The students had been drinking Four Loko, a fruit-flavored 23.5-ounce blend of caffeine and alcohol nicknamed blackout in a can the equivalent of drinking four beers and a cup of coffee. Now Washington state s attorney general is calling for a ban on alcoholic energy drinks although as Dr. Whelan asks, how could something with 12 percent alcohol be an energy drink?