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.
I went to the website and looked at the ingredient list- nothing that would numb anything, unless one of the flavoring elements is something like clove (eugenol) or hops.
The blurbs on their pages do not mention throat-numbing. Could just be creative journalism.
Whoohooo, I think I've found my drink!
OTOH, my mug of coffee in the morning probably has more caffeine than that.
gas=has
Ban dihydrogen monoxide. It has killed more people than any drug on the planet, ever!
I don't know about energy drinks, but when I was a visiting scholar in Brazil I came to like their guarana drinks. There's a grocery near Cincinnati that carries lots of imported stuff. I go there every once in a while to get some guarana.
"An average 5-ounce cup of coffee has at least 106 milligrams of caffeine,"
LOL! Who on earth only drinks a 5oz cup of coffee??? Even a small coffee mug is 10 oz. And who drnks only one of those?
Why, on what grounds, because they don't like the name? That won't last long.
Who cares really?
Some people will drink this to impress their friends but most will eventually move on. Nobody is going to drink something that tastes like Jolly Rancher candy and then immediately begin buying real cocaine.
However, there's A LOT of people that mix Red Bull with Vodka, or Rum (light, not dark), and get an energy drink with the alcohol.
As the old saying goes, nothing like a wide-awake full of energy drunk!
Would you believe, Jolt HAS an energy drink?
That's right - check it out at
http://www.joltcola.com/
I love that song. Definitely a classic late night bar band tune.
CASA, that wonderful organization that Prohibitionists love to quote, says the same thing.
Favorite coffee drink --- Coffee Americano (aka "Speedball"). 3 (or more) shots espresso in 16 or 24 oz. cup. Fill to brim with coffee of the day. Maybe add a splash of heavy cream to take the edge off. Drink.
1/2 caf, 1/2 light, skinny, triple vanilla-toffee latte's are for rank amatuers. Kinda like umbrella drinks are for people who really dont like the taste of booze.
So basically, with the exception of the 'throat numbing substance' (which I could probably simultaneously shoot into the back of my throat that stuff that numbs it when one has a sore throat.), it is my morning cup of coffee. Small cup to me is most people's massive size anyway.
Pansies all.
My standard coffee cup is 24 ounces of black coffe.
Aside from that, can't we just saw off Calfornia and float it out to sea? Maybe anchor it in the Bering Strait?
Sounds good to me. My regular blend at home is 1/2 Columbian, 1/2 espresso, touch of milk. ;~ )
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