This stuff got me through college!
Posted on 09/29/2006 11:35:32 AM PDT by BansheeBill
Cocaine — the new party drink
By Jean Porrazzo, Enterprise staff writer
There is a new “cocaine” out there and it's not an illegal white powder.
It's a drink that contains nearly three times the caffeine as a cup of coffee, is supposed to have a “throat-numbing” ingredient and is billed by its maker as a “legal alternative” to the unlawful drug that carries the same name.
Called “Cocaine,” the beverage is the latest party drink among young adults in California, New York City and Australia. So far, the drink is not sold at local stores but it could soon arrive in southeastern Massachusetts once it goes on sale at its maker's Web site.
Local officials are not pleased.
“It's another attempt to exploit the use of illegal drugs,” West Bridgewater selectmen Chairman Matthew Albanese said.
“It's a subliminal message that trying the actual drug is cool as well — and let's face it, all kids want to be cool.”
An 8.4 ounce can of “Cocaine” contains 280 milligrams of caffeine. An average 5-ounce cup of coffee has at least 106 milligrams of caffeine, according to the U.S. Department of Nutritional Services.
Its taste has been compared to cherry-flavored Jolly Rancher hard candy.
The West Bridgewater selectmen want to ban the product from their town. The board has sent a letter warning all liquor license holders that “any use of a new 'energy' drink called 'Cocaine' will not be tolerated” and any use “would be deemed a violation by the board.”
Redux Beverages of Las Vegas, which makes the drink, boasts about its “throat-numbing” effect and says “Cocaine” is 350 percent stronger than the popular “Red Bull” energy drink.
According to Redux's Web site, www.drinkcocaine.com, the side effects associated with the drink include “extreme amounts of energy,” and the “caffeine effects last three to four hours.”
“Cocaine — Instant Rush. NO Crash!” says one promo.
Late Sunday, a Redux company official posted a letter on the site saying it had received 6,738,165 hits in one week after the new drink was announced.
But local officials, anti-drug advocates and health care providers are outraged by the product's name, its claims and the potential dangers.
“We spend millions of dollars every year educating our kids against the dangers of drugs and here's a company that's going to profit from the sale of this dangerous product,” Albanese said. “This company needs to show some level of corporate responsibility.”
None of a half-dozen students interviewed outside Brockton High School Wednesday had heard of the “Cocaine” drink.
Asked his opinion, Jameson Bernadotte, 18 of Brockton, said “they're using the name 'Cocaine' to attract young people. It's weird, it's promoting drugs.”
“I think they're trying to get people to buy it, especially young people,” said Jamie Foster, 15, of Brockton. “It's not a good idea.”
Foster and Bernadotte said they don't like so-called “energy” drinks. But 15-year-old Christopher Little, another student, said he has tried “Red Bull” and would try the drink “Cocaine.”
Meanwhile, the West Bridgewater Board of Health is looking into regulations to ban the drink at convenience stores and supermarkets, Albanese said.
“The Board of Health has jurisdiction of retail sales at convenience stores and supermarkets,” Albanese said.
Raynham school resource officer Louis F. Pacheco's sixth-graders found out about the energy drink on the Internet before he did.
“It's making light of the actual drug and now, when a kid is offered the drug, they'll think it's less dangerous,” he said.
Pacheco said he doesn't plan on addressing the drink in his class unless it is brought up by a student.
“The marketing campaign is unconscionable,” Plymouth psychologist Mark Dunay said. “They're romanticizing the use of a substance that will lead ignorant, uninformed kids into the assumption that the hard drug cocaine is acceptable. There's no logic, but kids aren't logical.”
To make matters worse, some young people are mixing the drink “Cocaine” with alcohol or using it with other drugs that normally would make them tired, experts and officials said.
“It acts in a way that they don't go to sleep, so they keep drugging and drinking,” Albanese said.
Dr. Melissa Joy Tracy, a cardiologist at Brockton Hospital, had heard about the drink.
She has treated a number of patients who drink energy drinks and suffer high blood pressure, racing of the heart and arrhythmia. The combination of alcohol or drugs with energy drinks is “a horrible combustible combination,” she said.
“Depending on the age group, these people could have a heart attack or a stroke,” she said.
Posted for informational and discussion use only.
Let me guess...they made an deal with Pat Travers to use his song "Snortin' Whiskey" for the jingle.
"An 8.4 ounce can of “Cocaine” contains 280 milligrams of caffeine. An average 5-ounce cup of coffee has at least 106 milligrams of caffeine, according to the U.S. Department of Nutritional Services."
Who drinks a 5oz coffee anyway? What a rubbish comparison.
Disturbing. I don't see any harm in drinking caffeinated drinks; however, I don't agree with the name. They're right...kids are going to start drinking it and thinking they're "cool" and, pretty soon, they'll probably use cocaine and end up dying. Oh well. I think that everyone's entitled to their own opinions and as long as it's legal, then who cares, right? I don't know what I'm saying.
An energy drink as a 'gateway drug?"
Never mind the name. It's the 280mg of caffeine that attracts me.
Everyone who has drank water has died also.
BOOM BOOM (Out go the lights)!
5-ounce cup of coffee? So a 16oz cup beats this drink.
Coffee, black. Now THAT's old school pep in your step.
I've seen it claimed. There was an article in the local paper a few years ago, where some idiot claimed that tobacco, alcohol, and caffeine, were "gateway drugs," but marijuana wasn't.
Hmmm, naming products after illegal things?
Aggrevated Battery Chips washed down with with a cold Manslaughter Cola. Too cool for school.
This stuff is for amateurs. I've been taking an EC stack (24mg Ephedrine with 200mg caffeine) 3x a day, off and on for 2 years now.
I could finish two cans of this stuff and take a nap
Caffeine makes this a dangerous product?
Unfortunately I tried the real "cocaine" in the past. Not my thing. Who the hell wants to be so wired...even if its a whole load of caffeine.
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