Liquor stores around the country are removing the popular alcohol?infused energy drink Four Loko from their shelves voluntarily or as a result of bans. Somerville stores could be next, as local authorities continue to meet this month to discuss the fate of the allegedly dangerous beverage within the city of Somerville.
This past Tuesday, Somerville's Board of Aldermen passed a resolution urging the state's Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission to ban the sale of drinks containing high levels of caffeine and alcohol, including Four Loko. While the board does not have the authority to implement a citywide ban on the drink, it has asked vendors to voluntarily stop selling Four Loko.
According to Alderman William White Jr. the resolution is a response to numerous university reports of Four Loko?related student hospitalizations.
"There have been news reports of a problem generated on a number of college campuses," he said. "It's sort of like a double whammy between alcohol and caffeine."
Somerville's action is only the most recent in a string of bans and warnings around the country due to excessive consumption of the drink.
Earlier this month, Michigan became the first state to officially ban the drink, while Utah barred liquor stores from selling Four Loko in October. Washington state liquor stores have less than a week to clear Four Loko from their shelves, as an emergency 120?day ban that may later become permanent will go into effect on Nov. 18, and in Oklahoma the drink will be completely banned starting Dec. 3.
At the university level, Four Loko has been banned by Central Washington University (CWU), where the hospitalization of nine students was attributed to the drink. The University of Rhode Island (URI) and Ramapo College of New Jersey also banned the drink, while local schools including Boston University and Harvard University have opted instead to warn students of potential risks. Harvard's University Health Services Director David S. Rosenthal and Office of Alcohol and Other Drug Services Director Ryan M. Travia sent an e?mail to students, outlining the dangers of drinking Four Loko.
"In light of the incidents around the country related to Four Loko, we felt it was important to get information out to the Harvard community about Four Loko and the risks associated with its use," Travia told the Daily.
The e?mail sent to Harvard students described the harmful effects of drinking Four Loko, including blackouts, severe dehydration, increased blood pressure and alcohol poisoning.
"We strongly recommend that members of the Harvard community do NOT drink Four Loko and urge your friends to do the same" Rosenthal and Travia wrote in the e?mail.
URI took a more hands?on approach, according to URI Police Major Stephen Baker, who said the drink was responsible for too many incidents to just warn the students.
"The [URI] president banned it earlier this week based on evidence of [Four Loko] being abused by students, particularly at a concert several weeks ago, where 11 people were sent to the hospital with alcohol intoxication," he said. "It's being used as a 'gaming drink' to see how much they can drink before they go to an event."
Ramapo College banned the drink due to similar reports, Matt McMahon, Assistant Director of Judicial Affairs, said. Issues surrounding consumption of the drink extended beyond the campus, though, he said.
"It's a problem with the high schools around here as well," he told the Daily. "It's not something related just to the college."
However, Phusion Projects LLC, the manufacturer of the drink, contends that responsible drinking is necessary, as it is with any other alcoholic beverage.
"People have safely enjoyed mixing alcohol and caffeine products for years," the company wrote in an online press statement regarding the series of hospitalizations at CWU.
Four Loko combines malt alcohol, caffeine, guarana and taurine - the four titular ingredients - in one 23.5?ounce can. In Massachusetts, the drink, which is sold in nine fruity flavors and costs less than $3, has 12 percent alcohol by volume, making one can equivalent to about five or six standard drinks.
The combination of high alcohol volume and caffeine can mask intoxication, making the drink more dangerous than others, according to Ian Wong, director of Health Education at Tufts.
"Your body wants to metabolize alcohol before other drugs," he said. "You may not be able to tell how drunk you are because you've got these sugars and caffeine mixed in. You don't feel how drunk you are. It's easy to overdose."
Although Phusion Projects encourages safety and responsibility, opponents believe the drink lends itself to irresponsible drinking.
"Students don't realize how much alcohol is going in," Wong said. "If there was four beers and two Red Bulls on the table they might think it was too much for them. ... From what we know, this isn't a very good thing to do."
Tufts' Psychology Professor Sam Sommers explained that the mixture is irresponsible and that the way in which it is marketed promotes excessive drinking.
"Selling a six pack of beer for $2 doesn't seem like a good thing," he said.
In light of recent controversy, Phusion Projects reached out to college campuses through several press releases posted to its online media room, addressing recent media criticism of the drink and offering support for alcohol education programs. The company also had a panel of food safety experts examine the drink, the results of which were sent to the United States Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in a "Generally Regarded As Safe" notification. The FDA has yet to respond to the report.
Despite problems at other schools, Tufts University has not had any serious Four Loko?related issues, according to Veronica Carter, judicial affairs officer at Tufts. Currently, campus does not have a policy banning the drink, nor did university officials send out a warning letter to students, she said. If the university encounters future problems with the drink, it will reconsider its position, she said, but at the moment, it does not plan to take any action against Four Loko.
Wong believes that students understand the consequences of irresponsible drinking, particularly concerning Four Loko.
"I've heard a lot more bad experiences with Four Loko than good," he said. "I think students understand that there's not a whole lot of good things that come out of drinking Four Loko."
