When will they leave us alone? Nobody is advocating drinking this stuff and driving, but plenty of people drink regular booze and have car accidents and they don't ban...BOOZE! Why are stores selling this stuff to underage kids? A lot of times I go to buy my caffiene/alcohol drink and kids are there asking me to buy it for them. I just say NO! Same as when they asked me to buy plain old vanilla booze.
Let me tell you, there are times when this stuff is GOLD! "Wide awake drunk" is not really a bad thing. Have you spent time around people that are just plain drunk? It's not great, I'll tell you that. Either ban booze and smokes or let us booze and smoke in peace. I'm just saying. Read what this sensible Waugh kid says in here. Goes to SMU. He's no dummy!
Federal regulators issued warning letters today to four manufacturers of alcoholic energy drinks. FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said evidence has shown their consumption has led to alcohol poisoning, car accidents and assaults, she said. Many of those who consume the beverages are underage.
Labeling caffeine an "unsafe food additive" for alcoholic drinks, the Food and Drug Administration said the combination creates a public health concern and can lead to "a state of wide-awake drunk."
Colin Waugh, a junior computer science major at SMU who frequently drinks the beverage, said he'd continue to buy it even if the caffeine is removed because of the low price — about $3 a can.
"It's drinking on a budget," he said. "Caffeine is just a nice bonus, so there's no sleepy-drunk at the end of the night."
Although the drinks have received a lot of attention, Waugh said that he's not worried about his own health.
"I know how much alcohol is in it," he said, "and I know when to stop."
[Dallas Morning News]
The Captain can see that his days of legally consuming Irish coffee and bourbon and Coke are numbered. What's next, the outlawing of speedballs? Expect to see more sleepy junkies than ever before you know it.
ReplyDeleteIt's good to see that the FDA is thinking clearly here with their determination that caffeine is the culprit insofar as what makes these drinks dangerous for youngsters. Smaller minds might assign blame to the fact that each can contains as much alcohol as a pint of gin, tastes like a tutti-frutti lollipop, and costs less than a slice of pepperoni pizza.