"FDA Bans Caffeine In Alcoholic Beverages?"

reply to post by gift0fpr0phecy


To call caffinated alcoholic beverages deadly is to call all alcoholic beverages deadly. The upper/downer danger is virtually irrelevant and unfounded. The actual danger is the mixture of downers like alcohol and coc aine (which form a highly toxic chemical in the body known as cocaethaline). Rum and coke is the exact same mixer but no one is whining too hard about that.

The point is, we have a faction of people in this country that can't stand that people are having fun. As comedian Doug Stanhope said "Hey, they are smiling! We need to ban the reason why!"

[rant]
Frankly, if I want to shoot heroine into my eyeballs and have sex with a prostitute at a blackjack table, I should be left alone as long as I am not infringing on anyone elses right to do as they please. Freedom is an indivisable whole. You are born free, then a**holes like the FDA and FCC and even your own neighbors screw you out of it.

I find certain things in society very appauling. Religious zealotry is the highest on the list. Just because I think such things are dangerous and have a great adverse effect on society, doesn't give me the right to ban them. Fascism is running rampant in this country.

This reminds me of a conversation that I had that was sparked by a sensationalistic news story on a local station. Teenagers were apparently buying music online that could get them 'high'. Utterly ridiculous, but stupid (not ignorant, stupid) people were calling for a ban on a 'drug' that didn't even work.

It's 10 pm, do you know where your children are? Well, if you have been filling their heads with reefer madness lies and sensationalist propaganda, they are likely rebelling against you and smoking pot, having unprotected anal sex, and listening to adult themed music.

This whole idea of social engineering is a scam. Its just a power grab. Every 'recommendation' and 'requirement' is just a sad attempt to get everyone to shut the f*** up and color. They don't care about your safety. They care about control. As the billboard in John Carpenter's "They Live" so blatantly pointed out, simply "OBEY" and thats all they want

[/rant]

Well i'm all for legalisation of pretty much all drugs so i don't think i can argue for this ban. However i understand what they are getting at. Pushing high levels of stimulant and depressant into your system at the same time is probably not great for the heart. The problem is that people are drinking tons of these drinks and of course excess is most things is bad for you. However excess with these drinks may very well be worse than simply drinking the ingredients separately.

I do fear we will be seeing a big increase in liver and heart failure in the next 10 years and some of that heart failure may be linked to these drinks.

Originally posted by gift0fpr0phecy
reply to post by Azp420

 

It's not just about people who don't understand the risks.

It's also about people who will look at the drinks and say, "Hey if they are selling this stuff in stores it must be safe to drink! Look it's cheap to! Let's buy six of them and get wasted!". Then their heart stops after the third one.

I can't believe you people are arguing about this. Did you really love those drinks that much?

Are those not people who don't understand the risks?? People are arguing against it because they are not so short sighted that they only care about freedoms that they are personally currently enjoying. Today it's caffeine additives. Tomorrow it's something you consume. I don't even drink alcohol. That stuff kills brain cells.

I stand by my post. If you're enough of a moron to consume six energy drinks in quick succession regardless of if you're even consuming alcohol at the same time then you deserve everything you get. Since when did people want to stop thinking for themselves and taking responsibility for their own lives, passing it off to the nanny state?

Also, how hard is it to read the maximum daily dosage on the label?

This wouldn't even be a problem if it wasn't for prohibition. People would respect all drugs (including alcohol and caffeine) if they didn't just assume that illegal drugs = dangerous, legal drugs = safe. That's pretty much the problem right there.

No one ever overdosed while dancing with Mary Jane.

Ok this is unnecesary...people are worried that these drinks will cause health problems...but normal consumption of alcohol on an evweryday basis for an extended amount of time will cause cirrohsis of the liver...do the fda people care.;..no. And for those who say that its about minors drinking and getting ahold of them, minors can get ahold of everything. Why cant big brother just let us live? i drink four lokos on an almost every weekend basis, i know my limit and i know when to stop. i learned that when i was younger< and if young kis get ahold of alcohol, no matter the product and no matter the age, they will learn. You have to learn somehow, wether its from your peers or the hard way. when i was fourteen i used to get a bottle of hennesy every weekend. It wasnt hard at all...so if your going to ban caffinated alcoholic beverages, you might as well ban alcohol and sodas...wait...they already tried banning alcohol...uh...yeah it didnt work so well for them.

kids will remain kids no matter what. If a minor wants to drink they will, and if a minor wants to mix rum and coke or jack and coke they will...so why ban something just becaue it gets the job done quicker...i dont get it.

im on a four loko and a half right now, do i think im going to blackout? no...because im mature...and i know my limit. But i got mature and i knew my limit from experementing and trying things. Thats the way of life, get over it. you arent going to become mature from being sheltered from lifes expereinces. No matter what anyone says...

So there my rant

love and peace

Originally posted by mnemeth1

Originally posted by thisguyrighthere
So what happens to all of the trendy Red Bull drinks at clubs? Will they come kicking in my door if I put a little Kahlua in my coffee on a snowy afternoon?

Unless they plan on enforcing this all the way, with home searches, arrests, bar raids, armed FDA troops, etc... I see absolutely no point at all.

But then the "point" is just to make it appear as though they are doing something beneficial for the idiots out there.

God bless the idiots and the mighty power they wield over the non-idiots. All hail our idiot overlords.

Dude I'm getting a job at the FDA's criminal enforcement division.

This way I can run around and stomp on people's faces who produce alcohol/caffeine cocktails at parties.

It will be glorious.

All will fear me.

edit on 16-11-2010 by mnemeth1 because: (no reason given)

Make Sure you have those Gestapo Boots on! and the NWO Arm band ! thats all you need as the Govt already has the Supplys of Black Uniforms ! Soon Ill see in the Future Ill see Speak Easy's as in the last Prohibition .
There are not going to stop it Unless they try to BAN all Caffeine Drinks and say good bye to NODOZ as there alot of Coffee & Soda Drinkers ! in the US I See another profiteering Business sided with Fear Mongering arise ! if they will try! with alot of Pissed off Employees and Employers !

Go ask Some Retail / Industrial Big Box Managers what keeps Them going when he Works 60+ hours a week ? Cut it from Them ! What Will Happen ?

reply to post by mnemeth1


They're making the ban because there were a couple of college students who died because they drank some sort of alcoholic caffeine beverage. The bottle/can wasn't labeled properly, and they didn't know how much alcohol was in it...

It's a bit iron-fisted... but then again, this IS the U.S. government we're talking about... so it's par for the course.

No, they are declaring it an unsafe food additive.

Hence, they are banning its use in the free market.

Producers can not freely chose how to employ it in their products.


No they are not. And the story you linked to doesn't say anything like that.

reply to post by M157yD4wn

im on a four loko and a half right now,

Nice. Stock up... it looks like the fun police are coming around to kill your buzz.

Luckily, at the moment, I can afford Budwieser (considered top shelf for college students) but Four Loko is a great mix for partying on the cheap. Also, I don't get the crazy hangover I get from 40's and cheap beer. Four Lokos also seem to have a failsafe...... you puke before you can even have too much. Its just too sweet and has a strange aftertaste that induces vomitting in later drunken stages. I think they almost did that on purpose.

Also, drinking responsibly is up to the individual. What is stopping someone from buying four monsters and a bottle of cheap vodka and mixing those all night.... NOTHING. I have done it and no one warned me of the possible dangers of mixing the two chemicals... in fact, they should have told me how much fun I could have because thats what those nights boiled down to. The difference between dangerous and fun alcohol adventures is in how the individual regulates their own usage. The difference between waking up in a bed, naked, with two hot chicks and waking up in a bed, half naked, with a cute nurse pumping fluids intravenously into your body is how well you can regulate your own drinking.

Originally posted by Wolfenz
Make Sure you have those Gestapo Boots on! and the NWO Arm band ! thats all you need as the Govt already has the Supplys of Black Uniforms ! Soon Ill see in the Future Ill see Speak Easy's as in the last Prohibition .
There are not going to stop it Unless they try to BAN all Caffeine Drinks and say good bye to NODOZ as there alot of Coffee & Soda Drinkers ! in the US I See another profiteering Business sided with Fear Mongering arise ! if they will try! with alot of Pissed off Employees and Employers !

Go ask Some Retail / Industrial Big Box Managers what keeps Them going when he Works 60+ hours a week ? Cut it from Them ! What Will Happen ?

Seriously, are you out of your mind?

Earlier this week, the company agreed to voluntarily cease sales in New York. And on Tuesday, Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a statement that the FDA plans to rule caffeine an unsafe substance to add to alcoholic beverages, "effectively making products such as Four Loko, Joose, and others like them, prohibited for sale in the United States."

source

The ban is only on a mixture of alcohol and caffeine. No one is banning either alcohol or caffeine individually. This whole thread is full delusional neocons who get off lying and spreading fear.

There's water in the drinks too. Why don't you neocons tell everyone the FDA is banning water now!!! Everyone the neocons need you to know that this FDA ban will of course lead to a ban on water because the NWO doesn't want you to consume liquids. Booga booga booga

reply to post by DINSTAAR


There will be no unbridled conviviality on my watch bub.

Only terrorists drink highly caffeinated alcohol laced energy drinks.

We have to stop Al-Qaeda while saving 10 million children by blowing up Joose factories.

reply to post by andrewh7

There's water in the drinks too. Why don't you neocons tell everyone the FDA is banning water now!!! Everyone the neocons need you to know that this FDA ban will of course lead to a ban on water because the NWO doesn't want you to consume liquids. Booga booga booga

wat.

By the way, some of us the want the freedom of being able to order a red bull and vodka at the bar and that's what this is about.

Aren't you good at pretending to be genious? lol The reason the mixture was banned because it has a tendencey to cause heart attacks. It was a perfectly fine and logical choice made by the FDA, just paranoid individuals such as yourself however take it upon themsevles to assume that everything the FDA or the goverment in that manner is a comspiracy of sorts.

Do us all a favour and do not bother wasting more bandwidth for ATS, it can be used for much wiser things.

In response to those that claim it is a good thing because people have died from this deadly combo. How many have died from this combo?..now compare that to how many have died from alcohol alone. I don't have the numbers..please don't quote my exacts numbers..but don't they claim that 480,000 people die per year due to alcohol related causes in the United states.

Seems odd that they are only targeting those companies that combine alcohol and caffeine..when the numbers say that alcohol all by itself does significant damage to our society.

I don't know what they are up to..but it is not logical.

Peace

reply to post by Anthony1138


where is your information " it causes heart attacks"? At what dosage..one drink?

We can be trusted not to poison ourselves with over indulgence of alcohol..but we can''t be trusted not to over indulge when alcohol and caffeine are combined..does that make sense?

Big macs cause heart attacks. The FDA should ban them too.

Just because a drink/food/anything can cause adverse reactions in a small percentage of people that abuse said product is not grounds to bring in the violence of the government to stop its consumption.

Originally posted by Reiman
I think this might be taken slightly out of context. The FDA is not banning caffeine front alcohol, they are banning premixed beverages that contain alcohol and caffeine. So Jagerbombs are still in, but Four Lokos are out. The reason is because a beverage like Four Loko is just too dangerous for kids.

Um... alcohol isn't supposed to be consumed by kids, anyway. So I think this point is moot.

(buy Four Loko now)

So, these types of drinks are being banned because they are dangerous, especially to college kids who are not particularly responsible with their drinking. They'll guzzle Four Loko like it's a bottle of Miller Light all night long and wake up in a hospital...if they wake up at all. On top of that, the artwork on Four Loko cans target a younger crowd and the price is just right for the underage crowd.

Then maybe we should also prohibit things like aspirin, or Tylenol, because some kid who wants to get a cheap (and ineffective) high may take too many of them and overdose. Or, perhaps, we should prohibit driving, because some people are wreckless drivers. Perhaps we should also prohibit sexual intercourse, because it's possibly ripe with the chance of getting an STD or an unwanted pregnancy. Perhaps we should prohibit all kinds of foods, considering the fact that overconsumption of such foods can cause severe health complications. We should also ban knives for the purpose of cooking, because one of those tomato choppers or meat choppers could fall into the wrong hands. But you know... banning Four Loko and beverages like it are not going to stop people from over-consuming alcohol. Your logic really has not been thought out very well, no offense.

(buy Four Loko now)

Again... about the "underage crowd": do you not think they will just find a new beverage? Is it impossible to over-consume something which has a much, much higher alcohol content than Four Loko... such as vodka (typically 40% ABV)? Or whiskey (typically around 40% - 110% ABV)? Compare those to Four Loko's 12% ABV. It's like drinking wine, but with ginseng and caffeine in it. Also, I disagree with your idea that caffeine gives a false sense of sobriety. More likely, it gives a false sense of being well-rested, and a very real sense of alertness. The only way your claim makes any sense is when you crash on the caffeine, you become less alert. However, the actual alcohol content is even less than most wine. Would you agree to banning the sale and consumption of wine, too? What if somebody decides they want to mix a bottle of wine with lots of Mountain Dew, or cups of coffee? What is the difference between doing that and drinking Four Loko? Shouldn't you at least be consistent with your "logic" in this sense, and claim that even mixing these chemicals together yourself should be illegal, too? There is no difference.

(buy Four Loko now)

Bottom line, the malt beverage is dangerous in the wrong hands...and it found the wrong hands. So now, it'll be banned. No fear though, your vodka redbulls, Bailey and coffees, and Bacardi and cokes are still perfectly fine.

My friend, alcohol itself is dangerous in the wrong hands... and it has been in many wrong hands since its discovery. Maybe you're just an alcohol prohibitionist and you don't know it? Oh, and what about your liberties? Should it not be our choice on what we put in our bodies, and have a little self-responsibility for our actions (or lack thereof)?

Peace,
Fangula k buy

(buy Four Loko now)

P.S. just kidding about the 'buy Four Loko now' "subliminal messages". It was a joke.
P.S.S. To All Fellow Fangulites: I have spotted btoborg1.

Honestly, if you want to be self destructive, stupid, and fill your body with poison, you should be able to. Don't let the government tell you that you can't kill yourself

I truly don't understand how half you guys can oppose big government and corruption but then support big corporations. First of all, this is ATS, we should be able to discuss unethical corporations without resorting to accusing others of being pretty much socialist. In case many of you have missed the point, big government and big corporations are much more related then you think.

Plain and simple, these drinks are advertised to young people who are known to just drink whatever gets them drunk. Since many binge drink, these drink are very dangerous for those who haven't been informed about it's effects. No, you will not die on one, but the amount of students all over the nation admitted into a hospital recently over this drink shows many don't just drink one. It would be corrupt if we allowed these big corporations to advertise these dangerous products to the ignorant as if their the next iPods. For once, government is standing up to corruption, rather than working with it like it usually does. (cough cough, cigarettes)

reply to post by mnemeth1


The OP is ridiculous. Get your information straight please. They are only banning caffeine from strong alcoholic drinks, and for good reason. Many people, especially young people, cannot handle their alcohol vanilla, let alone the dangerous combo of caffeine/alcohol. Why would you want to put other people at risk from drivers drunk on this dangerous combo, or wigged out clubbers not even conscious of the people around them? People have died from this combo, and surely have killed others because of it.

I tried red bull and vodka many years ago before they started manufacturing them together, and I distinctly remember that experience. I told my friends I would never in my life try it again. They thought I was kidding. One person knows what it did to me, and I won't be talking about that here.

Not everything in the world is a conspiracy, and not every case of imposing limitations is because they are trying to strip our freedoms. Ever thought that they're doing it because it's just the right thing to do for the safety of the drinker and those around them??

I think this is a great move, and a RESPONSIBLE one indeed.

Also, the whole "well alcohol isn't sold to teens" is such a childish argument. Seriously, if teens couldn't get alcohol, underage drinking would not be an issue, nor a term that could exist. You guys all know damn well college and high school parties aren't fiction.