In early December 2010, I attended the Drug Free Communities New Grantee in Washington, DC. Right from the opening of the meetings there was an air of excitement and collaboration as coalitions from all over the U.S. participated. Some of the workshops I attended included the following topics: The Science of the Positive: A Holistic Prevention Framework, Mentor Grantees and Mentee Coalitions: What’s Expected and Making the DFC Team, Alcoholic Energy Drinks: Helping Your Community Understand the Danger, Understanding and Leveraging Social Media, Helping Local Communities Engage Teens in Drug Prevention, The Youth Factor: Effective Engagement of Youth in Substance Use Prevention and The Art of Not Knowing Everything.
I was particularly intrigued at the workshops pertaining to Alcoholic Energy Drinks. This was a new topic for me because I had only heard about the dangers of this on the national news. These “energy drinks” became a concern of mine when I heard about how easy they were to purchase and how dangerous they are. These are often referred to as “CAB’s,”or Caffeinated Alcoholic Beverage. The problem is that when the caffeine is included in the beverage it masks the depressant effects of the alcohol. In other words, the user doesn’t feel as intoxicated but the effect of the drink on the body is extreme. The drink that brought the most local and national attention is Four Loko. Others include Joose, Max, Core High Gravity HG Orange, Lemon Lime Core Spiked and Moonshot. When the FDA became involved in research about these drinks in 2009, they found that they had no nutritional value and were very harmful. As a result of the FDA’s work, several states have made it illegal to sell these products in their state. Pennsylvania is not one of those states, but in PA, the state Liquor Control Board has taken a strong stand against these drinks. These particular drinks were marketed in a way in which they were very popular to young people due to three factors: 1. A reasonable price, 2. High volume containers up to 23 ounces and 3. The colorful packaging.
When I returned home, I went to three local distributorships in the Upper Bucks Area and found that all three have removed the product from their shelves. The local distributors indicated that they had these products available for sale until the FDA and the state LCB sent out the warnings. I was very glad to hear that these local distributors were acting responsibly.
I have also found that several of the producers of these products have stopped manufacturing the product. The new problem is that there are now companies which are reformulating the drinks and selling them in a way in which the drink and the caffeine are in separate packages. After purchase, the caffeine and the alcohol are simply mixed together. The FDA has no control over this practice. My conclusion is that we still need to be vigilant about these CAB’s especially when it comes to the use of them by our young people.
Keep building Assets,
Ray Fox, UBHCHY Chair
