Four-Loko

zmedic said:
We did the calculation in my tox class, and there is enough alcohol in one can to get a 70kg person to a BAL of about .150. So one question is should we be selling something that if someone buys and drinks one they well get to twice the legal limit of drunk? Also note that it is sold in a can, so it's clearly not like a bottle of vodka that you are able to use part of it and put the rest away for another night. It is intended to be drunk all at once.

That's just the ETOH. There is quite a bit of caffeine in there, enough to start worrying about side effects.

Third issue is it is painted and marketed like an energy drink, some people are unaware of how much alcohol is in a can.

Fourth problem is that it is being aimed toward underaged drinkers. It's usually harder for them to buy vodka (sold in liquor stores were most people get carded) vs a can of 4loko sold in convenience stores and gas stations.

I'm a little surprised by all the "let people do whatever they want" arguments. Companies aren't allowed to create products that put people at undue risk. They aren't banning people from drinking these things, they are stopping them from being sold. And I think it is reasonable for a state to say you can't sell a can of alcohol that can't be closed and if you drink the whole thing a decent percentage of the population will get sick.
Click to expand...
The 4 loko with the most content is still only the equivalent of three 8% ABV beers and is designed to be drunk over an extended period of time. I'm not one to mix caffine with booze but if someone else wants to that's their business, not the governments.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Everyone I transport that is etoh off of Four Loko is under 18. I don't agree with the govt stepping in. If people are dumb enough to drink it without looking at thw alcohol content then let them get tbe hospital bill. Get after the stores selling to minors. The company found a product that promotes making money, nothing wrong with that. It is the American way to blame anyone but the American f'in up.
 
First off, Four Loko is 12% ABV, so 24 ounces of it is the same as 3 12% beers, pretty strong. Secondly, yes 40z bottles have alot of ETOH but they have a cap and be closed, and they have a lot more volume. I've seen 18 year olds trying to down 40s and they tend to throw up from the volume well before the get alcohol poisoning. Finally, by marketing I meant creating a product with a look and taste that appeals to certain groups. It's like the tobacco companies making flavored cigarettes that appealed mainly to underaged smokers.

Basic public health theory says if you have something that is causing public harm without a demonstrable benefit you get rid of it. So there are a lot 18 year olds getting sick from this product, and there really aren't many people who can legally use the product who are saying "hey, I drink that, don't take it away from me." I know there are a bunch of people who like to argue about rights v state power etc. But are you guys saying you personally are upset because you can't drink it?

If most of the people who are bummed about this are underaged drinkers, yet another piece of evidence they were right to ban it.
 
zmedic said:
First off, Four Loko is 12% ABV, so 24 ounces of it is the same as 3 12% beers, pretty strong. Secondly, yes 40z bottles have alot of ETOH but they have a cap and be closed, and they have a lot more volume. I've seen 18 year olds trying to down 40s and they tend to throw up from the volume well before the get alcohol poisoning. Finally, by marketing I meant creating a product with a look and taste that appeals to certain groups. It's like the tobacco companies making flavored cigarettes that appealed mainly to underaged smokers.

Basic public health theory says if you have something that is causing public harm without a demonstrable benefit you get rid of it. So there are a lot 18 year olds getting sick from this product, and there really aren't many people who can legally use the product who are saying "hey, I drink that, don't take it away from me." I know there are a bunch of people who like to argue about rights v state power etc. But are you guys saying you personally are upset because you can't drink it?

If most of the people who are bummed about this are underaged drinkers, yet another piece of evidence they were right to ban it.
Click to expand...

Beer is not 12% abv, by that point its either a malt or some kind of barley wine. Most general otc beers are between 3-5% abv. This is like drinking the alcohol of 3 miller lite's very fast, or 3 shots in quick succession. But with any of these alcopops, your getting less of the secondary drink, ie energy, then 3 beers, about 12 oz less

If you drink it fast, your going to be drunk, just like if you chug beer or pound shots. The company doesn't even advertise that heavily, most of the hype comes from word of mouth, and now with the incessant media coverage it becoming more appealing because people want to see what is all about. Never heard of this stuff until the NJ DOHSS sent a memo to all EMS agencies about it, at which point I wanted to try it and see what it was all about.

The more people call attention to the drink the more times we as providers are going to encounter it, before this stuff I never encountered a person who was intox from other similar products on any noticeable level

I we really want to go after a widespread culprit, we should ban vodka, which comes so dirty cheap in plastic liter bottles is almost criminal. Its also the most prevalent hard liquor on campus by far.

Is the issue this particular drink, our is it societal outrage at the knowledge that people under 21, many of whom are legal adults in every other way, hold blatant disregard for the drinking laws in this countr and this product exposed that to the nation?
 
Maybe we should start expecting some sort of personal responsibility from people and not blaming the products for some idiot. If you're dumb enough to not know what you're putting in your body, then you get exactly what you deserve.
 
They're banning the sale of Four Loko in Michigan, which I think is a load of garbage. As others have said, Vodka and Redbull have been around for a long time. Other combinations of energy drinks, and alcohol are out there as well.

I don't live far from the Ohio border, so I can go down and load up on some if I really want one. (edit: Nevermind, I found out the manufacturers are pulling the product. I say they just slap a warning label on it like they do cigarettes, and let me enjoy myself.)

P.S. Four Loko's are great.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Four Loko will now be available without the energy :censored::censored::censored::censored: in it :)

They are not pulling it from shelves they are just reformulating it lol

And if you ask me the energy part never came when I drank it.
 
Cohn said:
Four Loko will now be available without the energy :censored::censored::censored::censored: in it :)

They are not pulling it from shelves they are just reformulating it lol

And if you ask me the energy part never came when I drank it.
Click to expand...

The energy drink was the best part. It'd help counteract the effects of the alcohol, but the caffeine would wear off before the alcohol. So, you'd feel just a little bit of it, and then all of a sudden you'd be slammed. It's pointless to reformulate, people will just add in an energy drink to the mix.
 
I just went out and bought 52 cans of the stuff, with another case of Blue Raspberry and Fruit Punch coming to me Tuesday.
 
People don't have to drink it. No one is forcing you to drinking the higher alcohol content. Then they should bann Southern Comfort-151 at the state level as well if people want to cry about strong drinks.
 
Political issues aside - this stuff has hit our small rural town with a vengence. Kids drink it because its formulated to taste like kool aid. There's as much alcohol in a 16 ounce can as in a bottle of wine. The high caffeine keeps the kids from passing out and they drink ANOTHER ONE. See very high BACs in kids drinking at least TWO cans of Four Locos and just like drinking two bottles of wine would/could kill them they wind up at the ER in a blackout.

One of the unusual characteristics of this concoction is how often it seems to cause kids to black out.

Also seeing a lot of underage DUIs on Four Locos from the caffeine. Kids feel fine from the caffeine up and take off driving. Much like the old cocaine and alcohol DUIs back in the 80s.

Just saying if someone has been drinking Four Locos - particularly and underage person - you can usually figure a very high BAC on board.
 
Riverkilt said:
Political issues aside - this stuff has hit our small rural town with a vengence. Kids drink it because its formulated to taste like kool aid. There's as much alcohol in a 16 ounce can as in a bottle of wine. The high caffeine keeps the kids from passing out and they drink ANOTHER ONE. See very high BACs in kids drinking at least TWO cans of Four Locos and just like drinking two bottles of wine would/could kill them they wind up at the ER in a blackout.

One of the unusual characteristics of this concoction is how often it seems to cause kids to black out.

Also seeing a lot of underage DUIs on Four Locos from the caffeine. Kids feel fine from the caffeine up and take off driving. Much like the old cocaine and alcohol DUIs back in the 80s.

Just saying if someone has been drinking Four Locos - particularly and underage person - you can usually figure a very high BAC on board.
Click to expand...

Irresponsible drinking, and choices are to blame. Not Four-Loko. People have been mixing Vodka and Red Bull for years, and no one cried about it...
 
Bullets said:
Beer is not 12% abv, by that point its either a malt or some kind of barley wine. Most general otc beers are between 3-5% abv. This is like drinking the alcohol of 3 miller lite's very fast, or 3 shots in quick succession. But with any of these alcopops, your getting less of the secondary drink, ie energy, then 3 beers, about 12 oz less
Click to expand...

Maybe not your Miller light. But, there are beers with more than 12% abv.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eisbock#Eisbock
http://aleheads.com/2010/09/20/best-beer-in-america-over-12-abv/

I never drink a beer with anything less than 5% abv. But, that's my taste in beers. I could never drink a Coors light of a Bud light, just tastes horrible.
 
One of my very first calls was due to FourLoko. A small, underage kid drank about 4 and smoked an unknown quanitity of marijuana and just went downhill.
 
Again....! I don't care about the politics or who's responsible or what else has gone on before - I'm talking about having a serious awareness of what's presenting when its found out a person has been drinking Four Locos....

When a bystander says, "She only had one." Its still serious. When I see a beverage like this sweep my little town's underage drinkers it causes concern because of the damage I see it doing both physically and legally to the kids.

I'm talking about the dynamic and the information not about whose fault it is and I'm talking about awareness of a product's effects. Just had a 22yo skinny lady so drunk on it she couldn't tell us her name until she'd detoxed down about three hours. Yeah, she's of age but it still hammered her.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I think you have to look at it like a black box. If you say "product X linked to an increase in morbidity and mortality," then something needs to be done. I don't care if it's a new kind of car, a new kind of gun, a new drink whatever. Saying "oh, you can get that drunk or hurt or killed with something else" misses the point. It doesn't really matter what the product is, if it is linked to worse outcomes you have to do something about it. And while I'm all for education, I'd point to the success that we've had educating teenagers not to drink until they are 21, not to drive drunk, not to smoke until they are 18 etc.

You can't really compare this to other kinds of alcohol, because it doesn't matter that Jack Daniels has more alcohol, or that there are other beers that are 24 proof. Kids aren't drinking those things the same way that they are drinking this.
 
medickate said:
One of my very first calls was due to FourLoko. A small, underage kid drank about 4 and smoked an unknown quanitity of marijuana and just went downhill.
Click to expand...
Sounds like the kid got exactly what they asked for.
 
Stephanie. said:
I've drank it. Probably will NEVER drink it again. Not my type of poison.
Click to expand...

i had about 4oz..and almost puked. its disgusting. how anyone can drink enough to black out is beyond me. give me my rb&goose... at least that tastes good LOL

rsdaveo said:
Besides FourLoko this is also another hot thing with the college campuses, alcohol whipped cream..
http://microliquor.com/cream-alcohol-infused-whipped-cream/

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2010/11/29/whip-alcohol-laced-whipped-cream-raising-concerns/


Hey if people want it, let them have it. I have yet to try the whip cream but have had Fourloko before. Not much different than all the others out there
Click to expand...

OOooooh that whip cream looks intriguing ...:D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top