NLC SHOULD RETHINK APPROACH

Last Saturday night while checking out the latest selection of wines at the newly re-developed liquor store at the Dominion on Stavanger Drive, I noticed cans of pre-mixed energy drinks spiked with vodka and rum.

This is obviously a run for the newest rage amongst college students and teens. It is reckless and predatory and I am concerned.

I was surprised to see the combination because recently there was some press about the dangers of mixing alcohol with energy drinks. Apparently it is a popular way for young people to party longer and harder than the human body typically allows. People drink them to keep up their energy during periods of intense physical activity, or after exercise to quench their thirst. But rather than re-hydrating their bodies, these drinks may actually lead to dehydration.

And a published report from the Wake Forest University School of Medicine showed that those who combine the two tend to drink more and take more risks and are ultimately more likely to get hurt while drinking. They also appeared to be twice as likely to take advantage of someone sexually and nearly twice as likely to be taken advantage of sexually by someone else.

Researchers believe the high caffeine levels in the energy drinks mask the effects of excess alcohol such as stumbling, slurred speech and sleepiness. That excess drinking lowers inhibitions and impairs judgment is already well documented, but a mixture of alcohol and energy drinks makes individuals less aware of how drunk they actually are, and more susceptible to making bad choices.

I spoke to a bar owner today who told me that until recently they could not use energy drinks as mix, that by regulation they could serve alcohol and an energy mix separately but not combined. Now the Newfoundland and Labrador Liquor Corporation is in on the act and distributing the new combos.

MADD Canada shares concerns that have recently been expressed about young people's increasing consumption of energy drinks in combination with alcohol. Health Canada has issued a warning about Energy Drinks and offers a guide to their safe use.

In Canada, young people already have the highest rate of weekly, monthly and total binge drinking compared to other age groups. Since energy drinks may encourage even more dangerous levels of intoxication among youth, they should be seen as posing a serious risk of increased alcohol-related trauma death within this vulnerable constituency.

In Canada, youth are already over-represented in virtually all categories of alcohol-related trauma death. For example, those between the ages of 16 and 25 constitute only 13.7% of the Canadian population, but account for 32.1% of all alcohol-related traffic deaths. By inducing intoxicated youth to participate in high-risk activities, energy drinks pose added risks of alcohol-related trauma.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest, an American nonprofit group, has slapped MillerCoors with a lawsuit claiming that its combo drink is aimed at younger drinkers, including those who are underage. The suit, filed in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, aims to have the MillerCoors drink banned from shelves because it contains both alcohol and stimulants, which the suit alleges can give a young person the sense of "invincibility". It also claims that the drink is "designed to mask the feelings of drunkenness and encourage people to keep drinking."

Why is our government producing anti-drinking, anti-smoking and anti-gambling ads which warn youth about the dangers of addictive substances one one hand but peddling dangerous products that are targeting teens on the other?

Just a tad bit hypocritical and wrong from my perspective. Perhaps the Ministers of Education, Health and Finance might want to get together and iron this out.

Why is the provincial government allowing, indeed profiting from products that mix powerful stimulants with depressants in alcohol that can cause cardiopulmonary or cardiovascular failures in teens?

I think we are going down the same road as when people drink alcohol and ingest ecstasy and other designer drugs, but our government is not only condoning this product, it is marketing it.