Laugh Out News » alcohol

Four Loko The Killer Drink Banned In Washington State Because Its Too Appealing To Young Drinkers

Steven Carter — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 15:02:44 +0000

Four Loko and millions of dollars worth of alcoholic energy drinks will have to be off of retailers shelves in a week, after state regulators banned them, citing the hospitalization of nine dangerously drunk college students last month.

On November 18, Washington State will become the fourth state to have banned beer-based drinks that also feature caffeine, such as the malt-liquor energy drink Four Loko. The state’s ban is similar to that of Michigan, Utah and Oklahoma. U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has also called for a ban in New York state. Some universities also have banned boozy energy drinks from campus while the FDA reviews their safety.

Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire, who spearheaded Washington’s ban, said a strong caffeine-and-alcohol combination could encourage drinking too much by masking alcohol’s regular depressant effects. She also said alcohol-based energy drinks — sometimes fruit-flavored, often sold in brightly colored cans — are too appealing to young drinkers.

“It’s no different than the kind of appeal that Joe Camel had to our kids when it came to cigarettes,” she said Wednesday.

SMH! Four Loko can kill you, but if our college students are enticed into drinking crappy malt liquor by bright colored cans and fruity flavors, what does that say about our pre-college education system.

Professor David Nutt: Alcohol More Dangerous Than Crack, Heroin and Ecstasy

kujo Black — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 08:21:44 +0000

Professor David Nutt, the controversial sacked government drugs adviser, says alcohol is the most dangerous drug so drink your heart out boozers. Some really nerdy scientists have found that alcohol is the most harmful drug overall and three times as harmful as cocaine and tobacco. Their conclusion is based on some new scale of drug harm that measures the damage to both users and to wider society.

The findings of the study, published in the Lancet today, are likely to reignite the debate over the government’s drugs classification system. Professor David Nutt was sacked last year by then home secretary Alan Johnson after he challenged ministers over their refusal to take the advice of the official Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, which he chaired.

Here are some interesting notes to take away from this sobering study…

Ecstasy is only an eighth as harmful as alcohol
If drugs were classified on the basis of the harm they do, alcohol would be class A, alongside heroin and crack cocaine.
Overall, alcohol scored 72 out of a maximum ‘harm’ score of 100, compared to 55 for heroin and 54 for crack.
The most dangerous drugs to individual users were judged to be heroin, crack and crystal meth
alcohol was deemed most harmful to society, followed by heroin and then crack.

The final conclusion of this study then is: if you have a drinking problem you are worst than a crack head