Four, a familiar alcoholic energy drink, has come under scrutiny for its purported danger to drinkers. Containing either 10 percent (Four Maxed) or 6-12 percent (Four Loko) ABV and amounts of caffeine, taurine and guarana Four is offered in the United States and European markets.
The purported danger of beverages like Four arose with investigation in the past decade into other alcoholic energy drinks such as Sparks, Joose, and Tilt. In 2007, thirty state attorney generals brought a case against "caffeinated beers," citing research that indicated the potential harm of caffeine when used to simply mask intoxication. In addition, a study at the University of Florida in Gainesville found that students who consumed alcohol and caffeine thought themselves more capable of driving than students who consumed alcohol alone. Some years earlier, researchers at Human Performance Laboratory found that combining alcohol and caffeine "can negatively affect the respiratory and cardiovascular system."
Rising binge drinking rates and a particular focus on college students was also troubling. In 2008, faced with mounting pressure, manufacturers Anheuser-Busch and Miller Coors reformulated their drinks.
Focus landed directly on Four in 2009, as its brewery Phusion Projects and twelve others were investigated by the United States Food and Drug Administration for their caffeinated drinks. Whether these drinks were safe or legal was put into question and the breweries were required to provide proof of legitimacy.
Recently, use of Four Loko has caused increasing rates of injury and blackout on college and university campuses. The University of Rhode Island, Rapamo University, Worcester State University, Mount St. Mary's University, and Wentworth Institute of Technology banned the drink once students were hospitalized.
On October 9, nine college students were hospitalized in Roslyn, Wash., following a party in which Four Loko was heavily consumed and then chased with vodka, rum and other spirits. As a result, Central Washington University also banned Four Loko "pending a thorough review of drug and alcohol education programs and policies and a study of the dangers associated with the drinks."
Four responded by posting "responsible drinking tips" on their site with instruction for both the customer and retailer. However, the drink's explosive reputation has not gone without notice and is recounted on sites such as Four Loko Stories and The Loko List while threatening to become part of pop culture.
In response, fifteen colleges including Salve Regina University, Southern Connecticut State University, and Massachusetts Maritime Academy have gathered to inform students of Four Lokos' dangers. Meanwhile, eastern stores' Tops Markets, Price Chopper, and Wegmans discontinued the drink and Phusion subsequently prepared to withdraw its product from the state of New York entirely.
With its release in 2005, Four gained a great deal of interest and recognition. Its creators Ohio State University alumni Chris Hunter, Jeff Wright, and Jaisen Freeman had great confidence in their formula and spent a great deal of time promoting it after approval from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau.
Four was initially called "sweeter and subtler" than other alcoholic energy drinks on BSUDailyNews.com and is different from competitors due to the addition of wormwood. The sweet taste of the drink disguised its alcohol content and made it more palatable for female drinkers. Along with caffeinated alcoholic drink B-to-the E, Four started by suggesting mixers with hard liquor such as the F-Bomb with flavored vodka and The Four Panty Dropper with gin and peach schnapps.
Though under scrutiny from medical and grassroots organizations, along with the other alcoholic energy drinks, Four began as a particularly marketable idea that has pleased consumers with the ABV to get drunk and creative tastes to make it easily enjoyable.
Longwood University Police Officer James Thorpe discussed how Four has established itself in Longwood's drinking habits and its observable disadvantages. Within the past year, two serious incidents have involved Four Loco. One involved what Thorpe described as a "very belligerent" drinker and the other involved a student who, unaware of his drunkenness, caused his alcoholic blood levels to jump from .17 to a lethal .42.
According to Thorpe, caffeine "doesn't slow down the alcohol absorption, but it makes you less aware of it" and thus the likelihood of alcohol poisoning is greatly increased. As the highest alcoholic content of any alcoholic energy drink, Four Loko is especially liable to cause quick, unexpected, and undetected intoxication. In addition, the 30 to 40 minute lapse between drinking and full absorption and the one to three hours per beer for intoxication to pass create more powerful, long-lasting drunkenness.
While reasons for switching to alcoholic energy drinks may reflect favor toward caffeinated beverages, the drink's good taste, or the large ABV, another may be concentrated on its main audience. Drinks like Four Loko mainly enjoy drinkers between the ages of 17 and 20. The use among drinking age and older individuals is largely reduced. Due to Four Loko's energy drink-like appearance and disguisable alcohol label, an underage drinker can easily pass it off.
Facing litigation and some organizations' drive for Four Loko to be banned wholesale, there is some debate as to what should be done about the drink. However, many would not segregate this drink from any other so far as its danger and say that, realizing its characteristics, one should use it suitably and responsibility. The effects of Four Loko are also not limited to the combativeness of Officer Thorpe's encounter. It may be that the drink garners, like any other, individual reactions and it has proved to give its drinkers what they would want out of a beverage, and some particularly interesting stories to go along with it. That said, some may question if Four and its line of drinks should be regarded as a product with certain limitations or a popular mistake.
