Some retailers across the country are pulling the heavily criticized drink Four Loko from their shelves, but some stores near campus don’t seem so quick to kick the cans created by three Ohio State alumni.
“It’s gotta be the third most popular item in our store,” said Zach Willz, an OSU graduate and employee at Tobacco International on Woodruff Avenue, which sells the drink. “People just love it.”
Others don’t. The state attorney general in Washington is lobbying the FDA to ban the stimulant-infused alcoholic beverage after nine college students who drank it at a party were hospitalized earlier this month.
The FDA has reportedly asked the company that sells the drink — Phusion Projects — to prove its product is safe.
Though no decision has been announced, retailers in Denver and along the Northwest have already stopped selling the drink. But Willz said that regardless of whether his store sells the drink, students will find a way to get it.
The three OSU graduates who created the drink in 2005 were unavailable to comment Wednesday, but a statement released by the company Monday deflected blame for the students’ hospitalization.
“Making college campuses safe and healthy environments for learning is a goal we share with administrators — even those who have chosen to ban our products,” according to the statement. “However, we also know that curbing alcohol abuse on college campuses will not be accomplished by singling out a lone product or beverage category.”
Meanwhile, some colleges are pushing state lawmakers to ban the drink, which is sold in 23.5-ounce cans and contains 12 percent alcohol and as much caffeine as a 12-ounce coffee. Leaders at New Jersey’s Ramapo College are asking politicians to ban the drink, but OSU has no plans to follow suit.
“The university doesn’t sell it, so we wouldn’t ban it,” OSU spokeswoman Amy Murray said.
Four Loko will remain legal on OSU’s campus for those who are older than 21, “unless it’s banned by state law,” Murray said.
The Ohio Attorney General’s office wouldn’t say whether it had plans to ban Four Loko in Ohio, but the office has heard no objections to the drink, said Kim Kowalski, a spokeswoman for Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray.
“We have not received any complaints against this specific energy drink,” she said.
Some students choose the drink, known as a “blackout in a can,” because it costs less than beer or other hard liquor.
“It’s cheaper. What is it? Two dollars for a can? Who wouldn’t do that?” said Biff O’Bannion, a fifth-year in exercise science who claims he drank six cans of the drink in one day.
John Mills, a fifth-year in ecological engineering, doesn’t see a problem with the drink.
“I think that they’re alright,” he said. “I think the problem is, people get to college and don’t know their limits yet.”
The company maintained that the drink is safe when consumed responsibly.
“The unacceptable incident at Central Washington University, which appears to have involved hard liquor, such as vodka and rum, beer, our products, and possibly illicit substances, is precisely why we go to great lengths to ensure our products are not sold to underage consumers and are not abused,” Phusion Projects said in its statement.
“Our products are not energy drinks, as they’ve been called — and when consumed responsibly, they are just as safe as any other alcoholic beverage.”
Jacqueline Buell, director of sports nutrition at OSU, agrees. She said the problem is that students treat Four Loko like drinks with lower alcohol content.
“That percentage of alcohol is much higher than any beer, and I think students treat it like beer,” Buell said.
Some of her colleagues have suggested that the stimulants in the drink keep students up longer, meaning more time to drink. She has not seen any data to back that up.
Nathan Dugan, a third-year in exercise science education, said students don’t seem to drink Four Loko in moderation.
“I don’t think people usually remember the night with Four Loko,” he said. “Seems to be a common theme.”
He said his friends drink Four Loko but that he never has.
Others said that in moderation, the drink is safe, but that in excess it is dangerous.
“I would say I’ve never drank enough of them to have a bad experience, but I could see how that would happen,” Mills said.
He said he has never looked at Four Loko as a “blackout in a can,” but he thinks the nickname is accurate.
The debate around Four Loko is sure to carry on as politicians and universities push for regulation on caffeine-infused alcoholic drinks, but at least in Ohio, students will likely keep turning to Four Loko and similar drinks unless lawmakers or retailers take action.
“It’s like anything. You’ve gotta keep it in moderation,” said Ian Simrod, a fifth-year in international studies. “People just need to know their limits and not try to drink four Four Lokos.”
