Four Loko’s mix of caffeine and alcohol more dangerous than other drinks
Photo illustration
By Sarah Khan
Jan. 26, 2011 2:06 a.m.
CORRECTION: The original version of this story mistakenly identified a student who requested anonymity.
The original Four Loko, which kept people both drunk and wide awake for just $2.30 a can, was pitched as the perfect option for college students looking to drink on a budget.
But Pauline D. had a love-hate relationship with the caffeinated alcoholic drink.
The UCLA student, who requested anonymity, enjoyed the drink at parties because it was cheap and powerful.
Along with an unpalatable sugary taste, though, the added caffeine gave her hangovers that involved shaking, nausea and an inability to be productive.
“The hangover is different because you still have caffeine (in your body),” she said. “Once I laid in bed until 8 p.m., (and) I couldn’t do anything.”
Before it was reformulated by the Food and Drug Administration in November to contain only alcohol, the added caffeine and stimulants taurine and guarana, often found in energy drinks, made Four Loko more dangerous than regular alcoholic beverages, said David Jentsch, a psychology professor who studies addiction.
Caffeine’s stimulant properties can counterbalance alcohol’s effect as a sedative, he said.
While this may keep someone awake for a longer portion of the night, it turns off the signals that normally tell a person when they’ve had too much to drink, Jentsch said.
“People are maybe feeling like they’re not that drunk, but in fact they are,” Jentsch said.
But caffeine cannot completely mask drunkenness. The drink still impairs motor skills, coordination and judgment, Jentsch said. Poor decisionmaking and doing things such as driving can still lead to situations involving serious injury or sexual assault.
The added caffeine also does not affect one’s blood alcohol concentration.
No matter how sober people might feel, their blood alcohol level could still be high, possibly leading to alcohol poisoning, Jentsch said.
While there are concerns about the effect of Four Loko on the heart, Jentsch said the drink’s combination of caffeine and alcohol have opposing effects on heart rate, which could possibly counteract each other. Jentsch said he has not found any evidence leading to hazardous consequences.
Pauline D., however, has seen more dangerous mixtures. She knows people from France who take caffeine pills with alcohol. And because she also likes to mix drinks such as Red Bull and vodka, she does not understand why Four Loko had to be reformulated.
The FDA discourages people from mixing caffeine and alcohol themselves, but cannot ban the action of doing so, Jentsch said.
“You can have things that are approved separately, but that doesn’t mean that you market, explicitly, the harmful combination,” he said. “The companies are going out of their way to say “˜Hey, consume it exactly like this. Pre-made, pre-done, all you gotta do is drink.'”
