It look's like you don't have Adobe Flash Player installed. Get it now.
Four Loko is an alcoholic energy drink that has been gaining popularity among college students. Across the nation, the drink is being banned for its dangerous effects of combining caffeine and alcohol. Here in Springfield, numerous college students have been hospitalized or have reported being sexually assaulted after consuming the drink in recent weeks. KSMU’s Adam Hammons went to find out what these effects are and how it’s showing its face in Springfield.
For many college students, there is a myth that the more you drink, the more fun you have. It’s this "Animal House" belief that’s promoted many drinkers to buy Four Loko.
Stephanie Grevellius is the coordinator of student conduct at Missouri State University. She explains why many try this alcoholic energy drink.
“Its inexpensive and it gets the job done, quickly. If they’re seeking to get intoxicated, it’s the fastest way.”
Darrel Williams, a substance abuse specialist, explains why it gets a person intoxicated in such a short amount of time.
“Four Loko is a 23.5 oz can. In that can there’s malt liquor with an equivalency of four cans of beer, and any where from a cup and a half to three cups of coffee. So immediately the body becomes intoxicated.”
Williams says the effects of Four Loko on the heart are tremendous. This is because of the combination of a stimulant from the caffeine and a depressant from the alcohol.
Matt Brown is a spokesperson for the Springfield Police Department.
“It’s definitely something that needs to be closely looked at. The reason behind that is there are sensory cues that are normally associated with regular alcohol that people would know that their body feels ‘x’ amount of way when they drink alcohol but the sensory cues are gone when they take alcohol combined with caffeine. So you get a heightened sense of ‘I’m okay’, when you’re really not.”
Stephanie Grevellius says this heightened sense of ‘I’m okay’ has caused many sexual abuse cases. This is because an intoxicated person who drank Four Loko is able to function due to the caffeine jolt, but is not able to comprehend what they are doing. She also says in the past eight weeks, she has seen several cases where students were sent to the hospital.
However, both Grevellius and Willams say it still seems popular. Eric Sang is a junior at Missouri State University.
“It only takes one can to get you pretty drunk. It doesn’t taste that good but people don’t care what it tastes like. It’s got energy in it and it kind of gets you a little bit different drunk than what normal alcohol would.”
Jon Matlock is a senior at MSU.
“It’s just delicious, heavenly really.”
And Jennifer Michaels is a sophomore at MSU. She says she does drink Four Loko, but is also wary of what it can do.
“I’m actually scared of it. I like it, it tastes good, but I would never want to drink more than one.”
She says a person can easily black out with just two Four Lokos.
Darrel Williams has also heard stories of people blacking out from Four Loko. He says even experienced drinkers who know their limits have trouble handling the drink.
“Would you go into a bar, order four shots and then say also give me a cup and a half of coffee? Nobody would invest the time and it would look crazy. But drinking one can of Four Loko, it doesn’t look odd I guess socially.”
Grevellius says Four Loko’s current form of drink is still being sold, although the FDA plans to ban it soon. However a new form of the drink is being manufactured with less caffeine. It will still have other energy substances like taurine and guarana.
For KSMU News, I’m Adam Hammons.
ANCHOR TAG: Several states have already banned the drink: Utah, Michigan and Washington. Oklahoma has stopped all shipments of Four Loko into the state. In Missouri, however, no legislation has been proposed to ban the drink.
