Four LOKO BANNED! The West Seattle Connection

[biankat]

ignore this – i was trying to insert a picture but it didn’t work.

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[Carson]

Phil,

You don’t get it. Guns make it easier, much easier for people to kill each other. If gangs had to fight with baseball bats, well, they might be playing baseball. Kids can still mix redbull and vodka for the same effect as 4loco, and they will, but not as often

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[BigPhil]

To carry the metaphor, I guess we should ban all guns then, because adults can’t be trusted with them..? Like I said, reasonable restrictions on who can buy them where, when they can have them, and when they can be taken away for society’s good. Things like being 21 to own a handgun instead of 18, requiring a permit to carry it concealed, preventing the sale to minors and permitting for hunting, preventing the sale of fully automatic (not to be confused with semi automatic) without permits, etc., etc.

The metaphor is apt, but a bit unfair to guns, really. Alcohol kills far more people than firearms anually.

In the same respect, we already require that someone be 21 before they can buy any alcohol at all. If you’re afraid thats not being enforced enough than I agree but it really has nothing to do with Four Loko itself. Anything more than requiring an age gate is a bit intrusive, given that alcohol is just that. It doesn’t require a prescription or a license. It’s something only adults should enjoy, and if adults are voluntarily buying something and consuming it they are responsible for the results. There is no malicious marketing here, and it’s not a drug in the same sense as other things regulated by the FDA.

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[BigPhil]

JoB, depending on the variety, Four Loko varies from 143mg to 156mg of caffeine. To give you a bearing from the cans on my desk, a mountain dew is 54g, Rockstar is 80g. So yes, no doubt, it’s a lot of caffeine. It’s more than I could drink by itself in a whole day, without the alcohol. Anyone consuming 2 or 3 is being absolutely ridiculous, but again, it’s their choice to be ridiculous and not the fault of the product. No one held them down and forced them to drink it.

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[BigPhil]

And to be perfectly honest, I’d support banning it once it’s actually been demonstrated to be a severe risk to health. But I don’t like a state deciding unilaterally before the evidence is in that it’s just too dangerous to let be out on the streets one minute longer. Another good explanation I found searching around for Four Loko:

“A Bomb – one ounce 80-proof vodka to one can red bull – gives you about 80 mg caffeine and 0.4 oz. alcohol. One can of Four Loko gives you 135 mg caffeine and 1.41 oz. alcohol (at 6% ABV) or 2.94 oz. alcohol (at 12.5% ABV).

Contrast that with Bud Light, which is 4.2% ABV or has 0.5 oz. alcohol per 12 oz. bottle. So one can of Four Loko is somewhere between three and six bud lights in alcohol content. Chug two of them and I’m not surprised people go the hospital.

What does six beers do to a healthy 160 lb. male? Gives you a BAC of 0.14, ie you’re drunk, and quickly.

What does six beers do to a healthy 120 lb. female? Gives you a BAC of 0.23, sending you into a stupor and possibly unconsciousness. And yes, thanks to Four Loko, you can have all of this in one single can for easy and rapid consumption.”

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[BigPhil]

Damnit, I want a Four Loko now..

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[redblack]

big phil, i notice you failed to emphasize that one four-loko is equivalent to two or three vodka + red bulls. almost twice the alcohol; almost four times the “energy.”

look. i’m a fan of alcohol. i admit it unabashedly. i, too, procured it illicitly and illegally when i was in high school and college.

the alcohol isn’t the issue – until some drunken idjit takes the wheel.

it’s the goldanged “energy drinks.” wtf, people? that crap is like meth in a can. add alcohol, and you have a recipe for stupidity, irresponsibility, binge drinking, and violence.

(awesome demographic marketing, by the way.)

in what universe can somebody drink 2 – 3 vodka + red bulls in one serving and act responsibly?

and no, phil, i can’t blame the product. that would be like blaming physics for nuclear holocaust.

but i can blame the freaking geniuses who make and market the shite.

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[JoB]

all i can say is that one of my grandkids drank what was reported to be just one and ended up very sick.

was it just one? who knows?

Their judgment.. and memory.. was apparently impaired enough from one that it is impossible to know.

this stuff gives high school and college partying a whole new face…

thankfully.. once was enough for that kid..

lesson learned.

but this story could so easily have turned out very differently.

oh.. and before you ask..

i do have grandkids of legal age

but this wasn’t one of them.

that didn’t keep four loco from being the beverage of choice :(

my kids didn’t know about this stuff before.

they do now.

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[AK]

like little kids, my husband and i had to try it. it’s horrible. i don’t know how one could get through one can. you’d have to pound it, which could explain a lot.

i don’t care about the ban since i’m not a fan of the stuff, but it is a bit ridiculous. can we ban something more damaging, say cigarettes?

big phil – your college mixed drink of choice sounds nuts!

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[BigPhil]

Damn you! Damn you all ! I must try a Four Loko now but I just can’t figure out where I’d find it. I tried a 7-11 and didn’t see any, neither did the local QFCs.

The next step will be trying to figure out when to drink it. I drink energy drinks at 8 am or not at all, because even a Rockstar at 90mg caffeine takes 4 hours to reduce to 45mg (half life). Otherwise I’ll be wired all day (and night). I can’t imagine drinking something with 143mg caffeine anytime but the earliest morning, so that it’d wear off by night. But I can’t see getting wasted at 8am either. It’ll have to be a weekend or something..

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[austin]

I don’t think bedtime is much of a consideration with this stuff.

Maybe try one of the beer marts near the UW.

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[Genesee Hill]

I just bought one can of Blue Raspberry Four Loko at my favorite mini-mart on California and Andover. The proprietor, Loan, said she has quite a bit left, but that it is definitely selling. They also have watermelon flavor. There is some other brand, that she said is also banned, in green apple flavor.

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[AK]

Big Phil – i wouldn’t worry about staying awake. to continue my story about our four loko adventure, my husband finished the can, split 3 pitchers of beer with a friend who also consumed a can, vomitted out the car window on the way home (his car so haha), got dirty with some papa johns, and pasted out. yes we had a designated driver. his friend had no problem sleeping, either. i think you’re good to go for the evening.

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[JanS]

AK..that sounds like a stellar evening your hubby had there…ewwwww

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[jissy]

AK: Thank you for my out loud chuckle of the day!

Now I can’t wait to hear about BigPhil’s upcoming adventure — bottom’s up!

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[DP]

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[Cait]

This all seems so incredibly dumb to me when cigarettes and other alcoholic beverages are still on the market and just as easy to abuse. It seems really strange to make an example of not just one vice but an exact brand. I don’t like Four Loko but so many things about this situation reek of poor judgement. Just seems like a really convenient way to cut down on teen drinking without having to actually enforce it properly. It’s lazy. When I was a kid, it was my fault if I got sick from drinking too much, not the fault of the company that made it.

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[hoffanimal]

Picking one product is ridiculous and counterproductive. Kids do and will make bad decisions regardless of this ban. Since when do we make public policy based on one highly publicized event. What if this had happened with “just beer” as the culprit? Here’s a hint, it happens all the time; you just don’t know about it.

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[AK]

passed, not pasted. sorry guys.

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[mpento]

I was just wondering if the four loko is already off the shelves or if some shops are keeping it on as long as possible? I thought it might be a good gift for our secret santa at work but it’s not worth the trouble of hunting too much. Does anyone have a few suggestions where it might be still available? Thanks

(really it is just a token purchase You will not be assisting in my corruption or the corruption of any innocents or coworkers)

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[DP]

Has anyone heard from BigPhil? Four days ago, he was cruising the convenience stores, trying to make The Big Score.

Then, suddenly, the line went dead.

BigPhil?

Buddy? Are you out there?

C’mon, man. Talk to us!

How many fingers am I holding up?

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[austin]

I think Big Phil’s ok, he was pointing out the rejuvenating effects of cigarettes and burritos during a long winter over in the low-light thread more recently than that.

I wonder if there’s going to be a four loko black market after the ban goes into effect. Possible money making opportunity for weed dealers in the u district? I think so.

Thursday is the last day to (legally) buy four loko.

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[Genesee Hill]

My favorite mini-mart on California and Andover is sold out, but Ronnies Market at the south end of Ambaum in Burien still had plenty yesterday…

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[Author]

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