Oregon bans alcoholic energy drinks

PORTLAND, Ore. – At a special meeting Saturday, five Oregon Liquor Control Commission officials voted 4 to 1 in favor of banning alcoholic energy drinks from being sold in the state of Oregon – effective immediately. 

Commission officials say the decision came "as a result of new information regarding OLCC’s legal options concerning alcoholic energy drinks." It also follows the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s ruling on Wednesday calling caffeine an "unsafe food additive" when mixed with alcohol. 
 
“The OLCC has been concerned about the health risks of these products for some time,” said OLCC Chairman Philip Lang in a prepared statement sent late Saturday afternoon. “It’s unfortunate that so many young people around the country were hurt by these products. We’re glad that we can play a role in preventing that from happening here in the future.”
 
The seven products affected by the ban are named by the OLCC as Core High Gravity HG Green, Core High Gravity HG Orange, Lemon Lime Core Spiked, Moonshot, Four Loko, Joose and Max. The OLCC said these drinks were determined to be “adulterated” products by the FDA because they contain the “unsafe food additive” of caffeine.
 
OLCC adopted the temporary rule Saturday afternoon at a special 3:30 p.m. meeting following a week of meeting with several distributors and wholesalers. The ban is effective until May 18, 2011. OLCC staff said they will begin permanent rule-making concerning alcoholic energy drinks during that time.

On Nov. 10, Washington state officials made the same move -- banning the sale of malt-liquor drinks with caffeine in Washington stores effective Nov. 18. That gave retailers a week to clear millions of dollars worth of alcoholic energy drinks from their shelves, followed by a rush on the "Four Loko"-brand drinks dubbed "blackout in a can."

Oregon retailers don't have that luxury.

Oregon and Washington's emergency bans are similar to recent bans in Michigan, Utah, Oklahoma, Maine, Massachusetts and New York. In Michigan the state's alcohol control commission gave manufacturers 30 days to clear their shelves.

The Michigan ban followed a report of a sexual assault blamed on consumption of "Four Loko," a drink with 12 percent alcohol content. Four Loko's 23.5-ounce cans are equivalent to five "light" beers and a 12-ounce cup of coffee.

In Washington, any drinks that could be sold before Nov. 18 in Washington could be returned to wholesalers. Washington's ban is good for 120 days, but could be made permanent by the state Liquor Control Board or Legislature.

Washington's ban followed a house party in Roslyn, a picturesque mountain town known as the place where part of the 1990s television series "Northern Exposure" was filmed. The party made national news when it was first suspected that the drinks – served in red plastic cups – had been spiked with the date-rape drug Rohypnol, commonly known as a roofie.

Nine Central Washington University students who drank Four Loko were hospitalized with blood-alcohol levels ranging from 0.12 percent to 0.35 percent, and a female student nearly died, university President James L. Gaudino said. A blood-alcohol concentration of 0.30 percent is considered potentially lethal.

Ironically, just hours before the FDA released its Nov. 17 warning, Four Loko maker Phusion Projects announced it is removing caffeine – and two other ingredients – from its products going forward. Would the company's reformulated drinks then be exempt from the ban? That remains to be seen.