Alcoholic energy drink trend raises concerns

Star Telegram ^ | September 5, 2007 | MELISSA VARGAS

[TigersEye]

LOL Sorry about that, Eric. A lot of people think I'm disagreeing with them when I'm not.
It's my contrarian nature and not even the great Dr. Feel can help me with that.

FReegards, TigersEye

[Eric Blair 2084]

Don’t worry about it.

[Eric Blair 2084]

I’m gonna be sorry when this Larry Craig stuff dies down. It may be too easy but its too much fun.

[monkfan]

V2 President James Goldstein said:
"Spirits are meticulously reviewed by the government," he said. "The liquor industry is one of the most heavily regulated industries. I don't think the government would put [sic] something on the market that they consider unhealthy for people to consume."

Ungh!

[thefactor]

this guy has a product and wants to sell it. you don't want it, don't drink it. furthermore, if you want to drink it, don't drink 12 in 2 hours. sheesh!

but i guess some people need to be told what to do every second of the day.

[monkfan]

Or, more to the point, they need to be told what not to do. Such as, don't use this product in a manner inconsistent with it's labeling. Or, as you wisely point out, don't drink 12 in 2 hours. Once upon a time, that would have passed as common sense.

Sadly, this guy appears to be trying to leverage the popular misconception that "if it's not illegal, it must be okay [read: endorsed]". I wonder how many people pickle their liver each year thinking this to be true.

[thefactor]

everything in moderation, no? i agree his stock went down with the whole gov't soundbite, but there are products out there that are a whole lot worse that are more accessible to kids.

i have had V2 vodka before. it's not the liquid crack that is red-bull. but if i have 2 V2 drinks, i switch to something else. or (GASP!) i intermix them with non-alcoholic drinks. the horror! but i do love to tie one on from time to time.

[amchugh]

Coffee doesn't sober people up, it just helps keep them from passing out. Granted if you are driving drunk it's probably better to be semi-alert with impaired reflexes than completely asleep, but the only thing that sobers a person up is time.

[TKDietz]

“Coffee doesn’t sober people up....the only thing that sobers a person up is time.”

If you sit there drinking nothing but coffee for a couple of hours you’ll burn off a couple of drinks worth of the alcohol you drank before and while your BAC will still be the same as if you had switched to plain water the caffeine will actually counteract some of the depressant effect of the alcohol and be slightly less impaired than if you had just switched to plain water. I bet this would bear out in a controlled experiment where we took two control groups, had them all drink the same amount of alcohol and then had one group switch to water and the other to coffee. Stimulants do help counteract some of the impairment caused by depressants.

[amchugh]

I stipulated that caffeine will counteract some of the drowsiness caused by alchohol, but I wouldn’t want to count on the stimulant effect to save my butt if I were driving drunk (or after being up for 24 hours for that matter).

[Eric Blair 2084]

That is a statement of fact, no doubt about it. I don’t think anyone disagrees.

Reminds me of the old Steven Wright standup comedy line about how he took amphetimines and Quailudes(sp)at the same time just to let them battle it out and see who would win.

[Eric Blair 2084]

OK, I guess we have a dissenter. What the heck do I know?

[Eric Blair 2084]

The biggest stimulant is the adrenaline that gets flowing if you are ever pulled over after having a few beers.

It happened to me once in 1992. Once you see flashing lights behind you, the adrenaline kick is the equivalent of stabbing someone in the heart with a needle full of adrenaline.

That’s why I don’t understand how anybody ever fails a field sobriety test. You have to be in really bad shape.

At that point I was so petrified and alert I could have walked a straight line on my hands and recited the Chinese alphabet backwards and forwards.