Concern over alcoholic energy drinks' appeal to kids

Alcoholic energy drinks that combine lots of alcohol, caffeine and colorful packaging have drawn federal scrutiny and complaints from critics, who say they're unsafe and a lure for underage drinkers.

Now, the president of a New Jersey college has banned his students from having them on campus, after one beverage, Four Loko, was connected to the hospitalization of several students this semester.

"It's a highly toxic beverage," Ramapo College president Peter Mercer told Newsday Tuesday. "Students can drink it quickly, become intoxicated very quickly. It also has substances in it that by themselves are risky."

Steven Schmidt, a spokesman for the National Alcohol Beverage Control Association, said the "products have higher levels of alcohol content in them, higher levels of caffeine in them. There's a lot of concern about whether combining these two is a good idea." You must be 21 to buy the drink.

The federal Food and Drug Administration is looking into whether the drinks are safe.

Janet Evans, a Federal Trade Commission senior attorney, said the lines of alcoholic caffeinated drinks raise concerns about deceptive marketing. "The concern is what the result is going to be" when drinks mix alcohol and caffeine, Evans told Newsday. "That's sort of an 'A plus B equals question mark' situation."

Ramapo has banned all students - even those 21 years of age and older - from having Four Loko or similar beverages in their possession. The penalty for the first offense, under the school's alcohol policy, is a $200 fine, Mercer said.

A message left yesterday for Four Loko's manufacturer, Chicago-based Phusion Projects, was not returned.

At the Food Express on Jericho Turnpike in Syosset, manager Rohit Patel said he sells about 35 cans of Four Loko a week. The cans are 23.5 fluid ounce each. Food Express also carries two similar drinks: Joose and Sparks.

Patel said it's mostly younger adults who buy the drinks. Asked why, he said, "I would say it's like beer with a high volume of alcohol at a better price." Four Loko sells for $2.95 plus tax.

An official for the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University said the school had not seen any incidents involving alcoholic energy drinks.

Kali Chan, spokeswoman for Adelphi University, stressed that "students who use, possess, or consume alcohol in the residence halls or rooms will be subject to strict disciplinary action." She noted university programs that "highlight the risk and negative consequences involved in alcohol use and abuse, which can result in personal problems and academic difficulties."

Representatives of Hofstra and Stony Brook universities did not provide information for the story.

Mercer announced the campus ban after 23 intoxicated people were hospitalized over the span of a few weeks.

With AP